The Triumph Of Minette, In The Style Of Marguerite Gérard

The Triumph of Minette, French School, early 19th century.
In the style of Marguerite Gérard.
Very good condition, relined in the past.
Period frame with palmettes.
Frame 30 x 35 cm.

Oil on canvas depicting a young woman elegantly dressed in a pink gown and muslin bodice, tenderly holding a white cat with an expressive gaze. At her feet, a yelping, jealous dog enlivens the scene. The carefully rendered interior includes a medallion-backed armchair upholstered in green velvet, a table covered with a white cloth supporting a coffee pot and a cup, and beautiful fabrics arranged with natural elegance. This intimate and delicate composition is firmly rooted in the tradition of late 18th-century domestic genre scenes. The attention to textures (rosy flesh tones, the transparency of fabrics, the animals' fur), the softness of the palette, and the hushed atmosphere are directly reminiscent of the work of Marguerite Gérard, and more specifically her painting *The Triumph of Minette*, in which the cat becomes the true protagonist of the scene. This is not a copy of Gérard's painting but an interpretation, perhaps based on an engraving. The artist drew inspiration from the painting, adopting the central theme but changing a few details, particularly the clothing (see photo). 

The theme of the pampered animal, treated with an almost sentimental sensitivity, as well as the absence of moral or dramatic narrative, places this work within the movement of painters close to the circle of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, of whom Marguerite Gérard was a major figure.

Marguerite Gérard (1761–1837) is one of the leading figures of French genre painting at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Trained in the circle of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, whose studio she shared for many years, she distinguished herself with her delicate and intimate interior scenes, featuring women, children, and pets. Her work, appreciated during her lifetime, is characterized by great finesse of execution, a soft palette and a particular attention paid to everyday gestures, making her an emblematic artist of the bourgeois sensibility of her time.