Le Doux — “la Barrière De Reuilly,” A Landscape Wash Dated 1812

A very elegant wash from the early 19th century, attributed to Le Doux, depicting a wooded landscape featuring a horseman, his horse, and a dog, under the handwritten title “La Barrière de Reuilly.”

The composition offers a scene of great poetry, characteristic of the taste for picturesque landscapes at the turn of the 19th century. A majestic tree, with a gnarled trunk and twisted branches, occupies the foreground and frames the entire landscape. Its delicately rendered foliage stands out against a luminous sky, while a winding path draws the eye toward the depths of the scene.

On this path, a rider walks alongside his horse, followed by a dog that lends the composition a subtle sense of movement and a pleasant liveliness. The human presence, deliberately understated within the scale of the landscape, underscores the grandeur of nature and reinforces the contemplative nature of the work.

Executed in wash with a beautiful range of grays and browns, the drawing demonstrates a sensitive exploration of tonal values, shadows, and effects of depth. The nuanced rendering of the vegetation, the delicacy of the branches, and the composition of the path reveal a balanced composition, where the precision of the line combines with a delicately melancholic atmosphere.

The drawing is presented in its original antique black and gilded frame, adorned with beaded friezes and gilded moldings. The reverse side retains a label from the Parisian framer A. Jouvenot, who was based on Rue Viète in Paris, as well as the handwritten inscriptions “La Barrière de Reuilly by Le Doux” and a reference to the year 1812. These historical details lend the work additional documentary interest.

The piece retains an authentic charm, though the frame shows a few minor flaws and areas where the gilding is missing, consistent with its age.

With its picturesque subject, delicate execution, and well-preserved antique frame, this wash drawing is a distinctive piece for collectors of antique drawings and early 19th-century French landscapes.

Period: early 19th century, with the date 1812 inscribed on the reverse.

Technique: wash.

Subject: wooded landscape with a horseman, his horse, and a dog.

Attribution: Le Doux, according to the handwritten inscription on the reverse.

Frame: original antique gilded and black frame, with a few small chips and signs of wear.