Children's Games, 4 Canvases Napoleon III Period, Pierre Cardin Collection

Suite of four tondi
Oil on canvas mounted on a circular wooden panel
French school, circa 1860
In the style of Jean-Louis Hamon (1821–1874)
Provenance: hôtel Résidence Maxim's in Paris (Pierre Cardin collection)

Suite of four circular compositions representing young children playing in luminous landscapes: one advances blindfolded, draped in a green fabric fluttering in the wind; another rides a fish on an azure sea; a third swings on a tree trunk; the last, girded with a golden veil, plays with a shell at the water's edge.
These graceful scenes evoke the world of idealized childhood, treated with a sensitivity that is both tender and academic. The soft brushwork, the diaphanous skin tones and the clear, blue backgrounds recall the poetic style of Jean-Louis Hamon, a collaborator of Gleyre and close friend of Bouguereau, famous for his delicate compositions inspired by mythology and children's games.
This type of subject was very popular in the second half of the 19th century, both in bourgeois interior decor and in the artistic residences of the Belle Époque.
The circular forms (tondi), inherited from the Italian Renaissance, fit harmoniously into the paneling or over-doors. The diffused light, the blue skies and the softness of the figures are part of the decorative sensibility of the Second Empire, a period when decorative art sought to combine ideal beauty with the joy of living.

These four panels come from one of the suites of the Hôtel Résidence Maxim's on Avenue Gabriel in Paris, which belonged to Pierre Cardin (now Hôtel La Réserve).

Good general condition. Some minor surface wear and tiny losses to the edges. Presented in a circular gilt brass frame.