Félix-hippolyte Lanoüe (1812–1872) Italian Landscape With Bathers

Félix-Hippolyte LANOÜE
(Versailles, 1812 – Versailles, 1872)
Italian Landscape with Bathers
Oil on canvas, in its original frame
Diameter: 41 cm
Signed lower right
Circa 1840

Trained by Jean-Victor Bertin, and then, it seems, a student of Horace Vernet at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Lanoüe won a prize in Perspective there at the age of 20. Winner of the Grand Prix de Rome for Historical Landscape in 1841 (after placing second in the 1837 competition), he belongs to what can be defined as the third and final generation of neoclassical landscape painters, born in the 1810s and 1820s, such as Achille Bénouville, Paul Flandrin, Eugène-Ferdinand Buttura, and Alfred de Curzon—all of whom were influenced by Corot.

A regular exhibitor at the Salon from 1833 until his death, Italy was the main theme of his paintings, as Théophile Gautier, one of his admirers, wrote: “Lanoüe is faithful to his beloved Italy. He always returns there.” Although no further details are available, we know that he made a first brief stay there in the latter half of the 1830s, a period during which he exhibited only landscapes of the Paris Basin (Fontainebleau, the Seine Valley) at the Salon. After winning the Grand Prix de Rome, he spent four years at the Villa Medici between 1842 and 1846. Starting in 1861, Lanoüe exhibited Italian paintings at nearly every Salon, interspersed with a few views of southern France. Do these paintings reflect multiple trips to Italy, or were they created solely based on studies made during his previous visits? Success followed, both with the public and with the government, which purchased several of his works and awarded him the Legion of Honor in 1864, while critics recognized his firm brushwork and bold, direct style.