Lot Essay
Merle began his studies in the studio of Léon Cogniet. He was a regular contributor to the Salon between the years 1847 and 1880, receiving medals for his entries in 1861 and 1863. He was elected a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1866. Merle was born two years before his greatest rival Bouguereau, and the two artists shared thematic and stylistic similarities in their work, both favoring a highly finished naturalistic technique, which sanctified the French peasant. Indeed, the American collector Robert L. Stuart, who owned three paintings by Merle, is said to have suggested to Bouguereau that he use Merle's 1867 The Woman and the Secret as a model for his commission The Secret in 1876.
Merle enjoyed the patronage of many American collectors and no less than fifty-two of his paintings were cited by Strahan as being in American collections in 1878-79. His greatest French patron was the Duc de Morny, whose commission Portraits of the Sons of the Duc de Morny was a Salon entry in 1865.
Rocking the Cradle was brought to America by the collector Aaron Healy. Healy was a founder of the Brooklyn Museum and frequently traveled to Europe to buy paintings for both the museum and his private collection.
Merle enjoyed the patronage of many American collectors and no less than fifty-two of his paintings were cited by Strahan as being in American collections in 1878-79. His greatest French patron was the Duc de Morny, whose commission Portraits of the Sons of the Duc de Morny was a Salon entry in 1865.
Rocking the Cradle was brought to America by the collector Aaron Healy. Healy was a founder of the Brooklyn Museum and frequently traveled to Europe to buy paintings for both the museum and his private collection.