Painting, Oil On Canvas, Portrait Of Children In A Farmyard, 19th Century

- A 19th-century painting depicting two children in a farmyard.

- This painting depicts a scene from 19th-century life outdoors. It is a portrait of two children, whose identical facial features and clothing suggest that they are brother and sister. The older child is sitting on the ground, her hat on the ground, holding a small dog by its collar as it prepares to pounce on a hen and her chicks, which are pecking at the breadcrumbs that her younger brother, standing nearby, is dropping from his right hand. The endearing nature of the scene, punctuated by details associated with children’s games such as the badminton racket with its shuttlecock, is reinforced by the memory of domestic life in the countryside at that time. This is a farmyard that one imagines adjoining the country house. This setting is carefully composed, with a rosebush on the right, a parapet in the middle ground lined with four flowerpots, and, in the background on the left, a half-open gate offering a glimpse of a boy at the foot of tall trees. This succession of planes seems to guide the viewer’s gaze; the viewer’s eye enters the painting through the young boy’s gaze, then that of the older girl, followed by a view of the animals, before ascending the steps and being drawn toward the opening and the perspective beyond the gate.  

- The painting has been re-stretched and mounted in a wooden frame with gilded stucco, adorned with an inner frieze of interlaced hearts followed by a frieze of palmettes, dating from the same period, the 19th century. An inscription appears in the middle left reading “Henriette Sidoine,” followed on the next line by “Gaston …,” which is presumed to be the names of the young subjects.

- Dimensions (with frame) - height: 73 cm, width: 62.5 cm, depth: 7 cm // oil on canvas (without frame) - height: 61 cm, width: 50 cm, depth: 2 cm