*the Young Masons* By François Louis Lanfant Of Metz (1814–1892)

Young Mason

Charming Oil on Wood Panel, 22 x 8.8

Good Condition (see Very Good Condition—some signs of aging on the paint layer)
Signed lower left: Lanfant

Sold with its 19th-century frame

The Artist:

François Lanfant was born in Sierck in the Moselle department, in eastern France, in 1814.
He died in Le Havre in 1892. The artist always followed his surname, Lanfant, with the phrase “de Metz” to indicate his origins.

After a turbulent childhood and adolescence, he settled in Paris around 1843.
He first exhibited works with historical subjects, then genre scenes, until 1868.

His mentor was Ary Scheffer (1795–1858), a great genre painter of the French Romantic School.

Scheffer very quickly recognized Lanfant de Metz’s extraordinary talent as a draftsman. From 1843 to 1866, Lanfant de Metz exhibited successfully at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris.

From that point on, he settled in Le Havre, where he painted mainly small-format works depicting the carefree world of childhood—the joy of mischievous and quarrelsome children, where the child is king.

His genre scenes are sometimes full of humor and always perfectly capture the spirit of the 19th century.

Lanfant de Metz’s linework is fluid yet precise. The characters’ poses are full of life and authenticity.
His palette is very colorful, as he enjoyed playing with the children’s clothing to make his genre scenes shimmer.

The artist is undoubtedly the 19th-century French painter who treated the theme of childhood with the greatest emotion and delicacy.

Exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1843 to 1866 in Paris
Retrospective of his work in 1926 in Le Havre
Museums in Marseille, Paris, Reims…