Théodore LÉVIGNE (1848-1912), The Hunt, 1884

LÉVIGNE Théodore (1848-1912)
La chasse à courre, 1884
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated lower right
73 x 49.5 cm
Beautiful arched frame in wood and gilded stucco in Louis XIII style (Some missing)
Prov.: Bourgoin Jallieu family property, by descent
Price : 7 000 €

This work shows us a moment of rest of two hunters and their dogs on a forest path at dusk.
The atmosphere of the painting is both peaceful and contemplative. The spectator is invited to immerse himself in this silent nature, punctuated by the presence of the hunter and his animals. The posture of the dogs, attentive and moving, refers to the animation of the hunt, while the hunter, standing, seems to pause, in harmony with his environment.
There is a certain aestheticism in this painting: the attitude of the two men, the decorum of nature and the light that degrades in the background of the canvas, make this painting a true masterpiece of hunting representation. The work is thus part of a long tradition of making hunting a noble practice where man is in communion with nature. Indeed, the nineteenth century maintained a nostalgia for the hunting of the Ancien Régime and considered that its golden age was between the accession of the Marquis de Dampierre to the position of first huntsman of Louis XV and the French Revolution.
The treatment of light and the attention to detail of the vegetation and figures recall the influence of the realist and naturalist painters of the time. The work also bears witness to a romantic sensibility, visible in the majesty of the trees and in the intensity of the sky, which give the painting an almost spiritual dimension.
Théodore Lévigne, a prolific artist of the nineteenth century, was born in 1848 in Noirétable (Loire) and is best known for his genre scenes, landscapes and portraits. In 1856, his father, a shoemaker and shoemaker, moved to Lyon in the Saint-Jean district. A young prodigy and endowed with a certain talent, Lévigne entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon at the age of twelve. Three years later, in 1863, he was awarded the school's highest honour: the Laurier d'Or.
Receiving a scholarship from the City of Lyon, he decided to join the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris and lived in the 6th arrondissement.
When the Franco-Prussian War broke out, he enlisted and was wounded in the left hand during a battle at Nuits-Saint-Georges. He would later paint many scenes of war. In 1893, he joined his brother Léon at the Arche farm in Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or to share their common passion in a bucolic setting.