Charles Clair – Cows And Horses In A Meadow – Oil On Canvas – Signed

Charles Clair (1860–1930 or 1947)
Cows and Horses in a Meadow, late 19th or early 20th century
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right “Ch. Clair”
65 x 54 cm (15 F format), 77.5 x 66 cm with frame
Good condition, one restoration in the sky
Molded black lacquered wooden frame, gilded mat [period to be determined]

In the foreground, a large piebald cow, red and white, has come to a sudden halt. She turns her head toward us, as if we had just arrived in the meadow. Lying at her feet, her fawn-colored companion doesn’t even bother to get up.

A little further on, at the edge of a pond covered with water lily leaves, two horses stand together. The white one has its hooves in the water. The small brown one, seen from behind, has positioned itself near an old fence made of branches. Behind them, the meadow stretches as far as the eye can see, dotted with tiny cows, all the way to a pink-tinged horizon.

To the right, a slender tree leans over the meadow. It has only a few golden leaves left. And you have to look closely to spot her: at the edge of the woods, a peasant woman in a blue dress and white bonnet is walking along the path. This small figure gives the landscape its full sense of scale.

Charles Clair is best known for his sheep in the sheepfold. Here we see him painting outdoors, bathed in soft autumn light. The animals are painted with care and great vitality. The background is rendered more freely, with small, light brushstrokes. It is a calm and luminous painting that will fit easily into a country home or a more urban setting.

Condition
Good overall condition. A restoration in the sky is visible up close: the texture of the paint there is slightly different. Canvas on a central-bar stretcher. Black lacquered, molded wooden frame with a gilded mat, in good condition.

The Artist
Charles Clair was born in 1860 in Mars-sur-Allier, in the Nièvre department. He grew up in the countryside, surrounded by livestock and farm work, which would inspire his entire body of work. He first trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Nevers, then at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

A painter and engraver, he exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français. His specialty remained sheepfolds: sheep huddled in the dim light of a stone barn—a subject he painted many times and for which he is best known today. He also painted lively rural landscapes: meadows, riverbanks, shepherdesses, washerwomen, and harvest scenes. Sources differ on the date of his death, 1930 or 1947.

Work on view at the gallery (07240)
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