Simon Saint-Jean (French, 1808-1860)
Property from an Important American Collection 
Simon Saint-Jean (French, 1808-1860)

A Still Life of Roses, Tulips, Peonies, Carnations, Hollyhocks, Morning Glories, Dahlias and Raspberries in an Urn on a Carved Wooden Table

Details
Simon Saint-Jean (French, 1808-1860)
A Still Life of Roses, Tulips, Peonies, Carnations, Hollyhocks, Morning Glories, Dahlias and Raspberries in an Urn on a Carved Wooden Table
signed and dated 'Saint-Jean 1845' (lower right)
oil on canvas
50½ x 36¼ in. (128.2 x 92.1 cm.)
Painted in 1845
Provenance
with Richard Green, London.

Lot Essay

A pupil of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, where in 1826 he won a gold medal for flower painting in the class of Augustin Alexandre Thierriat De Lyon (1796-1871), Saint-Jean began his career as a designer for the textile firm of Didier Petit. He first exhibited his flower pieces in 1827 and in the following decade established himself as one of the leading artists and teachers in Lyon, which was renowned for its flower painters. Although he worked mainly in Lyon, he enjoyed the patronage of wealthy collectors in Paris and abroad. Six of his flower and fruit pieces were exhibited in 1851 at the Great Exhibition in London and at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where he won a gold medal and nine of his paintings were shown.
Some of Saint-Jean's still lives are included in some of the world's most prestigious collections, such as La Madonne aux roses at Château Compiégne, Bouquet dans une grotte at Musée du Louvre, Paris and Les fleurs dans les ruines at Château Fontainebleau.

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