Paul-Désiré Trouillebert (1829-1900) - Pécheur à la ligne sous un saule

Oil on canvas signed lower left
Dimensions: H. 27 cm x W. 32 cm (with frame: H. 46 cm x W. 52 cm)
Described and reproduced in the Catalogue Raisonné on Paul Désiré Trouillebert by Claude Marumo, N° 1091, p.589

Paul-Désiré Trouillebert was born in Paris in 1829. In France, he was one of the best outdoor landscape painters of the 19th century, and without doubt the artist closest to Corot, with whom he forged a close relationship. Trouillebert's brushwork, light and airy, allowed him to play with transparency; his palette, essentially composed of blues, greens and browns, had a very special tone thanks to the ochre preparation that Trouillebert applied to his canvases and panels before painting, and which was like his second signature. Like Corot, he said, "I only work from nature, I don't accept studies copied in the studio".

Trouillebert is associated with the Barbizon school, and his style is clearly marked, easily recognizable by an expert. Trained by the academic portraitist Ernest Hébert, it was primarily for his portraits and nudes that Trouillebert was accepted into the Salon des Artistes Français in 1865, where he exhibited until 1884. He travelled all over France, but his subjects on the banks of the Loire and the Seine were undoubtedly the most sought-after. It was in his rendering of moving waters, animated skies and birch trees shaken by the wind that the artist excelled.

This painting is reproduced in the reference work on the artist. It is a delicate, soothing work, with an extremely classical composition that is at the same time highly studied. Under a blue sky animated by a few white clouds, a fisherman, beautifully sketched, is fishing among the birch trees. As in his best oils, Trouillebert has applied a multitude of light touches with infinite shades of green. The mastery with which Trouillebert has painted the trunks, branches and foliage is impressive: With a quick gesture, chromatic transparencies and a light touch, the artist lets us feel the wind in the trees. The painting is in perfect condition, on its original canvas, simply re-varnished. The painting is presented in a beautifully restored antique frame in wood and gilded stucco.

Museums in which works by Paul Désiré Trouillebert are found:
Paris, Musée d’Orsay and Petit Palais / New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Baltimore, Walters Art Museum / Cleveland, Museum of Art / Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum / Valparaiso, Fine Arts Museum …