Auguste Aristide Constantin (1824-1895) Woman And Her Children Praying - Watercolor

Superb watercolor by the artist born in Paris Auguste Constantin. The work represents a mother and her children praying in front of a cross, in the middle of nature. It is in very good condition and framed under glass in a gilded frame which measures 38.5 cm by 32.5 cm, and 20 cm by 14.5 cm on sight. It is signed lower right. Auguste-Aristide-Fernand Constantin was born on February 14, 1824 in Paris, son of the architect Auguste Constantin (1790-1842). Under the influence of his father, he learned the art of painting and the techniques of engraving at a very young age, then received a classical education in the workshops of François-Édouard Picot and Thomas Couture. He began exhibiting at the Salon of 1848 where he presented six drawn landscapes. In 1859, he revealed himself as an etcher. At the Salon of 1863, he exhibited Six various views in etching: Fantaisies, edited by Alfred Cadart, accompanied by painted still lifes4. He is undoubtedly a member of the young Société des aquafortistes. His works show views of French towns under the Ancien Régime. He also produced watercolors which imitated to perfection the art of the genre scene painters of the 18th century, and whose taste was in vogue2. Still for Cadart, he offered a series of etchings for L'Illustration nouvelle from 1868. We also know of portraits of personalities drawn on lithographic stone. In 1882, he produced a final series of etchings, twelve in all, for an edition of Isoline et la fleur serpent, the novel by Judith Gautier, including a frontispiece by Frédéric Régamey. He died in Paris on November 8, 1895.