Frédéric Legrip. View Of The Place Basse Vieille Tour In Rouen (seine-maritime). [19th Century].

Oil pencil, black ink and watercolor. 34 x 29.4 cm, pasted by the corners onto a 61 x 46.5 cm blue sheet. Small black spots on the drawing and a tiny paper loss at the lower right corner.

Signed lower left: "fred LEGRIP". Title at bottom of drawing: "Vue de Rouen, place de la Basse Vieille Tour".

The square is no longer the same at all, with the construction of buildings around the halle aux Toiles. The towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral can be seen in the background.

Frédéric LEGRIP (1817-1871):
A landscape, history and portrait painter, Frédéric Legrip was born in Rouen on September 5, 1817. A pupil of the archaeologist Hyacinthe Langlois, then of the sculptor David d'Angers, he exhibited at the Salon from 1844, firstly landscapes, then historical subjects, always imbued with his love of Normandy. A fervent admirer of Nicolas Poussin, in 1860 he won the competition for the best local history painting organized by the Rouen Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts. Frédéric Legrip died on December 2, 1871, a few months after being appointed professor at the Ecole Municipale de Dessin in Paris. His paintings can be found in several French museums, including the Musée des Beaux-arts in Rouen and Bordeaux, the Musée de l'Armée in Paris and the Musée du Château de Versailles.

Bibliography: Frédéric Henriet, Un Peintre rouennais, Frédéric Legrip, sa vie et ses ouvrages, (Extrait du journal le Nouvelliste de Rouen du lundi 16 septembre 1872), Rouen, Lapierre, 1872.

Ref. X-1906-a