Pauline Vallée (lyon, XIX - ?) - Floral composition with chinoiserie

Pauline VALLÉE
(Lyon, 19th century - ?)

Floral composition with chinoiseries

Oil on canvas
Signed and dated lower right
61 x 50 cm
1888

We know little about the life of this woman artist apart from the fragmentary information compiled in the Salon booklets.

Mademoiselle Pauline Vallée was born in Lyon and was a student of Marc Bruyas (1821-1896), a Lyon master of floral composition paintings, and of Blaise Desgoffe (1830-1901), a virtuoso of still life inspired by the Dutch masters of the 17th century.

Our artist exhibited various paintings in several Salons between 1886 and 1891, such as:
- Paris Salon: Fruits and objects of art (1886), Peaches, grapes and objects of art (1887)
- Lyon Salon: Rosebud (1888), Fruits and objects of art (1889)
- Rouen Salon: Missal (1886), A corner of the sacristy (1888), Roses Captain-Christy (1891)
Our painting, dated 1888, is therefore contemporary with those exhibited at the mentioned Salons and is therefore part of his most talented production.

Two hypotheses are available to us to reconstruct the rest of Pauline Vallée's life:
- An unfortunate outcome corresponding to a possible early death in 1891-1892,
- A more joyful outcome: a marriage in 1891-1892. This would then lead to a change of surname to sign his paintings. We then lose track of her until we manage to discover her married name...