Lot Essay
Born in Caen in 1835, Lépine was initially self-taught and then studied with Corot, Boudin and Jongkind. He specialized in views of Paris and the Seine. Both in subject matter and conception, his work anticipates that of the Impressionists; in particular, he forms a transition from Corot to early Pissarro and Sisley. He first exhibited at the Salon of 1859, and participated in every Salon between 1862 and 1889; his work was also included in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. He was highly praised by contemporary critics; A. Liesville, for example, described him as a "painter of the ravishing landscapes that caress the banks of the Seine...like Boudin, [his work] is fine and luminous," and Gonzague Privat said that the painter's "execution is similarly agreeable, his tones true, his art spontaneous, fine, light, delicate" (quoted in J. Couper, Stanislas Lépine, Paris, 1969, pp. 32 and 67). Fantin-Latour was especially enthusiastic about Lépine's work.
The present picture depicts the bridge at Neuilly, just west of Paris. Lépine favored views of bridges as a subject for painting, and he made two other views of the Pont de Neuilly. In its structure, the picture is characteristic of Lépine's oeuvre, and the palette--with its emphasis on pale grays, soft greens and sandy blonds--is reminiscent of that of his teacher Corot.
Paintings by Lépine are in many of the major museums of the world, including the Musée du Louvre, the National Gallery in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The present picture depicts the bridge at Neuilly, just west of Paris. Lépine favored views of bridges as a subject for painting, and he made two other views of the Pont de Neuilly. In its structure, the picture is characteristic of Lépine's oeuvre, and the palette--with its emphasis on pale grays, soft greens and sandy blonds--is reminiscent of that of his teacher Corot.
Paintings by Lépine are in many of the major museums of the world, including the Musée du Louvre, the National Gallery in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.