Jules Chevrier – Portrait Of A Woman From The Bresse Region – Oil On Panel – Signed
Artist: Chevrier Jules (1816 – 1883, France)
Jules Chevrier (Chalon-sur-Saône, 1816 – Farges-lès-Chalon 1883)
“Portrait of a Woman from the Bresse Region”
Oil on panel
Signed lower right, barely legible and partially obscured by the frame
23 x 17 cm — 30 x 23 cm with frame
Good condition; panel formerly trimmed (see Condition)
Wood and gilded stucco frame, early 20th century
She stands near a table in a room of which almost nothing is visible: a light-colored wall, a denticulated cornice at the very top, the shadow of a doorpost on the right. And above all, crowning her head, the tall black headdress worn by the women of Bresse, topped with a plume of feathers that rises boldly toward the upper edge of the panel. She is the focal point of the entire composition.
Her costume is rendered with obvious delight: a puffed sleeve in bright red, a white lace collar, ruffled cuffs, and on her arm, an embroidery of small yellow and orange flowers applied with just a few brushstrokes. The skirt falls in wide purple and garnet folds. Her left hand rests on the table, while her right holds a small book with gilded edges, pressed against her skirt.
The background, however, remains in a rough, unfinished state. The wall is painted with bold vertical brushstrokes; the texture is visible throughout, and the large, dark shape behind the young woman is not clearly defined. This contrast between a detailed costume and a barely sketched background is what gives the panel its charm: one can see the painter’s hand at work, and Chevrier, a student of Thomas Couture, had precisely this free and rapid style.
The women of Bresse wore very distinctive headdresses, which Chevrier depicted on several occasions, both in paintings and etchings—his *Poultry Market (in Bresse)*, engraved in 1868, is now in the collection of the British Museum.
Condition and Presentation
The panel is in good condition, with a network of fine craquelure clearly visible in the light-colored area of the wall. The signature, in the lower right corner, is now very faded and partially covered by the frame’s rebate; we have included a photograph taken with the painting out of its frame, showing what remains of it.
The panel was most likely trimmed at some point in the past to fit into a frame smaller than the original one. We received it in this condition and have preserved it as is.
The frame, made of wood and gilded stucco from the early 20th century, features a frieze of interlaced lozenges on the front and a row of gadroons along the viewing edge. It is in good condition, with minor losses at the corners.
The Artist
Jules Jean Chevrier was born in Chalon-sur-Saône on February 4, 1816, the son of a fabric merchant. He initially worked in the family business, but art and archaeology were already his passions: in 1844, he founded the Chalon-sur-Saône Society of History and Archaeology with Léopold Niepce. Upon his father’s death in 1849, he moved to Paris and joined Thomas Couture’s studio. His peers nicknamed him “the painter of rats” because he so frequently included these small animals in his paintings.
Upon returning to Chalon, he was elected city councilman in 1852, then second deputy mayor, and founded the Society of Friends of the Arts. In 1866, he persuaded the city to establish a museum dedicated to local heritage and became its first curator; in 1895, the institution was renamed the Musée Vivant Denon.
His role in the history of photography remains little known. A close friend of Isidore Niépce, Nicéphore’s son, he practiced daguerreotype himself from the early 1840s onward, and it was he who saved and collected Nicéphore’s instruments and early prints—the collection that formed the basis of today’s Nicéphore Niépce Museum.
A renowned engraver, he was a member in the 1860s of the Société des Aquafortistes, founded by the publisher Alfred Cadart, alongside the leading names in original printmaking. In the year of his death, he published *Chalon-sur-Saône: Picturesque and Demolished*, with a preface by Léopold Niepce and illustrated with his own etchings—a book intended to preserve the city’s heritage, written in opposition to the construction projects that were then disfiguring his hometown. He died in Farges-lès-Chalon on October 15, 1883.
Work on view at the gallery (07240)
Shipping: Please contact us for shipping rates within France and internationally.
“Portrait of a Woman from the Bresse Region”
Oil on panel
Signed lower right, barely legible and partially obscured by the frame
23 x 17 cm — 30 x 23 cm with frame
Good condition; panel formerly trimmed (see Condition)
Wood and gilded stucco frame, early 20th century
She stands near a table in a room of which almost nothing is visible: a light-colored wall, a denticulated cornice at the very top, the shadow of a doorpost on the right. And above all, crowning her head, the tall black headdress worn by the women of Bresse, topped with a plume of feathers that rises boldly toward the upper edge of the panel. She is the focal point of the entire composition.
Her costume is rendered with obvious delight: a puffed sleeve in bright red, a white lace collar, ruffled cuffs, and on her arm, an embroidery of small yellow and orange flowers applied with just a few brushstrokes. The skirt falls in wide purple and garnet folds. Her left hand rests on the table, while her right holds a small book with gilded edges, pressed against her skirt.
The background, however, remains in a rough, unfinished state. The wall is painted with bold vertical brushstrokes; the texture is visible throughout, and the large, dark shape behind the young woman is not clearly defined. This contrast between a detailed costume and a barely sketched background is what gives the panel its charm: one can see the painter’s hand at work, and Chevrier, a student of Thomas Couture, had precisely this free and rapid style.
The women of Bresse wore very distinctive headdresses, which Chevrier depicted on several occasions, both in paintings and etchings—his *Poultry Market (in Bresse)*, engraved in 1868, is now in the collection of the British Museum.
Condition and Presentation
The panel is in good condition, with a network of fine craquelure clearly visible in the light-colored area of the wall. The signature, in the lower right corner, is now very faded and partially covered by the frame’s rebate; we have included a photograph taken with the painting out of its frame, showing what remains of it.
The panel was most likely trimmed at some point in the past to fit into a frame smaller than the original one. We received it in this condition and have preserved it as is.
The frame, made of wood and gilded stucco from the early 20th century, features a frieze of interlaced lozenges on the front and a row of gadroons along the viewing edge. It is in good condition, with minor losses at the corners.
The Artist
Jules Jean Chevrier was born in Chalon-sur-Saône on February 4, 1816, the son of a fabric merchant. He initially worked in the family business, but art and archaeology were already his passions: in 1844, he founded the Chalon-sur-Saône Society of History and Archaeology with Léopold Niepce. Upon his father’s death in 1849, he moved to Paris and joined Thomas Couture’s studio. His peers nicknamed him “the painter of rats” because he so frequently included these small animals in his paintings.
Upon returning to Chalon, he was elected city councilman in 1852, then second deputy mayor, and founded the Society of Friends of the Arts. In 1866, he persuaded the city to establish a museum dedicated to local heritage and became its first curator; in 1895, the institution was renamed the Musée Vivant Denon.
His role in the history of photography remains little known. A close friend of Isidore Niépce, Nicéphore’s son, he practiced daguerreotype himself from the early 1840s onward, and it was he who saved and collected Nicéphore’s instruments and early prints—the collection that formed the basis of today’s Nicéphore Niépce Museum.
A renowned engraver, he was a member in the 1860s of the Société des Aquafortistes, founded by the publisher Alfred Cadart, alongside the leading names in original printmaking. In the year of his death, he published *Chalon-sur-Saône: Picturesque and Demolished*, with a preface by Léopold Niepce and illustrated with his own etchings—a book intended to preserve the city’s heritage, written in opposition to the construction projects that were then disfiguring his hometown. He died in Farges-lès-Chalon on October 15, 1883.
Work on view at the gallery (07240)
Shipping: Please contact us for shipping rates within France and internationally.
450 €
Period: 19th century
Style: Louis Philippe, Charles 10th
Condition: Excellent condition
Material: Oil painting on wood
Width: 17 cm / 23 cm encadré
Height: 23 cm / 30 cm encadré
Reference (ID): 1824138
Availability: In stock
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