Charles Alexandre Coessin de la Fosse (1829-1916)

Gallant discussion

Oil on canvas, signed lower right
Dimensions: H. 81 x W. 65 cm
With original frame: H. 123 x W. 109 cm

Charles Alexandre Coessin de la Fosse is a perfect example of the great French painters of the 19th century, whose training was purely academic and whose talent was swept away by the arrival of the Impressionist movement. A native of Calvados, Coessin de la Fosse completed his training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris with two great masters, François-Édouard Picot and Thomas Couture. Picot still belonged to the neoclassical school, and gave Coessin the foundations of his art. Couture, whose monumental historical compositions adorn the great hall of the Musée d'Orsay, steered Coessin towards this academic style, which he never abandoned despite the arrival of so-called modern, naturalist and impressionist painting. This generation of artists, faithful to their apprenticeship, received numerous awards in the early 20th century, before sinking into oblivion even before the Second World War.

But art lovers were not mistaken, and it's not surprising that Coessin's works can be found in the collections of France's greatest museums, as well as in private collections. In 1930, "Procession autour d'une croix de pierre" (Procession around a stone cross) entered the Louvre, a drawing now held by the Musée d'Orsay. In 1897, "Le dessert", painted by Coessin in 1873, entered the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Reims. In 1998, "Diane chasseresse", a purely academic work by Coessin, was sold for over 75,000 euros at Sotheby's in New York, 1998 May 7th.

Our painting, large for Coessin, depicts a 17th-century inn scene. The postures of the maid and the man-at-arms are perfectly studied. Each in their own role, exerting their charms on the other, the two characters show us a very pretty scene of seduction. Every detail has been reproduced with precision; the suppleness and veracity of the fabrics and materials are perfectly rendered. The cat seems jealous of the complicity between man and woman, and its posture adds life to the composition. Coessin de la fosse has constructed this painting perfectly: the figures, the cat and the objects, emerge from an almost black background; the play of light and shadow gives astonishing relief to this important work, which is on its original canvas, in perfect condition. The painting is still in its original late 19th-century frame: imposing, it is adorned with a very rich gilded decoration on a dark background, which oscillates between the neo-Gothic style of Violet le Duc and the beginnings of Art Nouveau.