Lot Essay
The son of the flower painter Renier-Joseph Malaine, Joseph-Laurent was born and trained in Tournai. In 1787 he was appointed flower painter to Louis XVI at the Gobelins tapestry manufactory, but in 1793 he fled to Alsace where his reputation as a painter of flower pieces and floral designs led to his employment in the tapestry factories at Mulhouse, Thann and Rixheim. The co-operation between the different royal factories led to his appointment as professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Lyon on the day of his death in 1809.
From the inscription on the reverse of the panel, the present work would seem to date from circa 1796 after Malaine returned to Paris.
From the inscription on the reverse of the panel, the present work would seem to date from circa 1796 after Malaine returned to Paris.