LEMEUNIER Basile  (1852 - 1922)

“A trottin in Paris” ca 1898

Oil on canvas
Preparatory study
Old label on the back of the frame mentioning: N°36 - Basile Lemeunier (1852-1922) Preparatory study ca1898 “Trottin de Paris”

Portraitist, born in Antoigny in 1852. Student of Hédin and Detaille, with whom he formed a strong friendship, Basile Lemeunier was rewarded for his talent at the Paris Salon in which he participated from 1888 to 1921 and during the Universal Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900.

Artist known for his numerous contemporary depictions of genre and street scenes from Belle Epoque Paris. Renowned for being the painter who represents “street children who are friendly and elegant and seductive women” as opposed to the painter Fernand Pelez.

The artist has represented here a trotter in a street in Paris, a scene where the artist expresses all his talent. In the panorama of the Salon of 1904 we can read that "Mr. Lemeunier is the painter of the elegant trot, finely gloved, well shod, who has underwear and who moves them with his alert gait so that no one ignores them. His amused curiosity follows him through Paris, wandering with him in front of all the street shows.”

This preparatory study is carried out with breathtaking realism both in the representation of this young woman, through the numerous details, and in the environment which surrounds her. The work reveals to us the Paris of yesteryear and its animation, during the metropolitan works on Boulevard Montmartre. In the background we can see the Palais de Cristal located at the corner of Boulevard Montmartre and rue Drouot. This place is a large store of tailor-made clothing and clothing for men, women and children, and toiletries.

The artist's final painting was produced in 1898 and presented at the Paris Salon the same year. In addition, the painting made the cover of Le Figaro Illustré on March 1, 1899.

Dim: 65 x 41cm without frame and 87 x 62 cm with its Louis XV style gilded wood frame