Geoffroy Chocarne (1797-1870) Charity Scene At The Boulogne Fires

Geoffroy Alphonse CHOCARNE
(Boulogne 1797 – Paris 1870)
Charity fire scene
Oil on canvas
H. 65 cm; L. 81 cm
Signed lower right, dated 1848

Provenance: Private collection, Périgueux

Geoffroy Chocarne, not to be confused with Chocarne Moreau who worked at the end of the 19th century, was an academic painter whose works we mainly see dated between the late 1820s and 1855/60s. Most are very luminous genre scenes that were particularly appreciated during the first half of the 19th century. He also produced very elegant portraits which he exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1838. We also know that he was a drawing and painting teacher in the capital. A young girl who became very famous was his pupil, along with his sister. This is Berthe Morisot.

Despite our research, this subject, which seems to be very real, does not provide any information. The stamped rue du Puget does not allow us to find the city in which the painter places the scene. On the right of the composition, a shoemaker's and wigmaker's shop named “L'Espérance” is in ruins following a fire… A well-chosen name! On the window sill is an urn in which a child places a coin, carried by her mother. This trunk is "for the burned" of the ruined shop. The scene takes place in an alley which leads to a property bordered by a turret, and overlooked by a strange villa which is more reminiscent of the south of France with its white walls and its architecture.