Léon Richet (1843-1907) Barbizon, Oil On Panel - Lively Landscape, 19th Century France

Léon Richet (1843–1907)
Barbizon School – Animated Landscape, 19th Century
Oil on wooden panel
Signed “Léon Richet” in the lower left corner

Depicting a vast rural landscape enlivened by a peasant woman in a white bonnet carrying a bucket. Although no precise location can be definitively identified, the composition evokes the forest landscapes associated with the Barbizon School and the taste for the area around Fontainebleau.

A pond in the foreground reflects the glow of a contrasting sky, divided between dense dark cloud masses and broad luminous openings. At the edge of a wood, a humble thatched-roof dwelling nestles beneath a group of tall, slender trees. A classic Barbizon School theme illustrating everyday labor.

The vigorous brushwork is characterized by rich material and heavy impasto, particularly visible in the treatment of the foliage and clouds.

On the reverse of the panel appears the stenciled stamp of an artists’ materials supplier (Martin frères). There are also annotations on the reverse suggesting that the work may previously have appeared at public auction.

The frame was probably added later; it is a gilt wood frame with a cavetto profile, bearing on the back the label of the Buchs art framing workshop (Geneva).

The work is in excellent condition. The paint layer is sound, luminous, and perfectly preserved. The gilt wood frame shows slight wear consistent with age, a few minor scattered losses from use, as well as old restorations (overpainting), without detracting from the overall aesthetic appeal of the piece.

Frame dimensions:
• Height: 41 cm
• Width: 50 cm
Visible dimensions:
• Height: 30 cm
• Width: 39 cm

Provenance:
• Private collection of a British family established in France.

Léon Richet, born on April 15, 1843, in Solesmes (Nord) and died on March 26, 1907, in Paris, was a French painter. A pupil of Narcisse Diaz de la Peña and Émile van Marcke de Lummen, and a painter associated with the Barbizon School, Léon Richet was chiefly interested in the depiction of animals and landscapes. He studied art in Valenciennes and became a secondary school teacher in 1879. Associated with the Barbizon School, he produced several paintings with Narcisse Virgilio Diaz. His works were exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1869 to 1906.

Works in public collections:
Musée d’Orsay:
• Portrait of Pierre Lanith Petit (1831–1909)
• Les Gorges d’Apremont, painted between 1847 and 1907
Museum of Fine Arts, Reims:
• Landscape with Marsh, 1872
• Landscape, 1869

Bibliography:
• “Richet (Léon),” in Larousse mensuel illustré, vol. 1, Larousse, 1907
• Emmanuel Bénézit, “Richet (Léon),” in Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays, vol. 3, Paris, Gründ, 1924, 1160 p.
• Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, “Richet, Léon,” in Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 28, Leipzig, E. A. Seemann, 1934, p. 276.

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