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

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

Depicting a broad rural landscape animated by a peasant woman wearing a white coif accented with a touch of red, carrying a bucket. A pond in the foreground reflects the changing light of a dramatic sky, divided between dense dark cloud masses and wide luminous openings. A classic Barbizon School theme, illustrating the poetry of everyday rural labour.

The brushwork is vigorous, characterized by generous paint handling and strong impasto, particularly visible in the treatment of the foliage and clouds.

On the reverse of the panel appears the stencilled stamp of an artists’ materials supplier (Martin frères). There are also several inscriptions on the reverse suggesting a previous passage through public sale.

The frame is probably a later addition, in gilt wood with a cavetto profile, bearing on the reverse the label of the Buchs framing workshop in Geneva.

The work is presented in excellent condition. The pictorial layer is sound, luminous, and perfectly preserved. The gilt wooden frame shows light age wear, a few scattered minor losses from use, and old retouching (overpainting), none of which detracts from the overall aesthetic appeal of the piece.

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

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

Léon Richet, born on 15 April 1843 in Solesmes (Nord) and died on 26 March 1907 in Paris, was a French painter. A pupil of Narcisse Diaz de la Peña and Émile Van Marcke de Lummen, and associated with the Barbizon School, Léon Richet devoted himself primarily to the depiction of animals and landscapes. He studied art in Valenciennes and became a secondary-school teacher in 1879. Closely linked to the Barbizon School, he produced several paintings together 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 de Pierre Lanith Petit (1831–1909)
• Les Gorges d’Apremont, painted between 1847 and 1907
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims:
• Paysage avec marais, 1872
• Paysage, 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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