작품 상세

Pierre-Charles Comte (French, 1823-1895), "Bijoux et Bibelots", oil on hardwood panel, signed lower right, 31-7/8" x 43-3/8". Presented in a giltwood frame. Provenance: Purchased by Houston, Texas businessman B. F. Bonner in the 20s, thence by descent in family. A native of Lyon, Comte studied at l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Lyons under Claude Bonneford (French, 1796-1860) and attended the Paris atelier of Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury (French, 1797-1890). While adept at the grand historicizing scenes encouraged by his teachers and then so popular and prevalent in France, Comte was especially admired for his more intimate interior scenes referencing the Medieval and renaissance periods. By concentrating on the more mundane of life activities; the opening of a window, the adjusting of a flower in a coiffure, or - as in the painting presented here - sampling the wares of a jeweler, Comte created a window into the opulent world of the past, but one to which contemporary viewers could relate; his figures may be clothed in historical raiment, but their activities are universal. Comte's considerable talent is evident in the assiduous attention given to the variety of textures - from the shimmering silk of the central figure, the deep plush of the velvet of the cushion, to the more humble woolen cloth of the antiquarian. Though this style was deemed overly sentimental and maudlin by the younger generation of artists emerging in the last quarter of the 19th century, and even though Comte himself turned his back on this genre in his later years, such works have proven enduring. An admired and successful artist, Comte exhibited widely, including the Paris Salon from 1848-1887, and was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades.