Édouard SALINGRE (1829 – 1892) - Wagtail trophy

Eugène Édouard SALINGRE
(Soissons, 1829 - Soissons, 1892)

Wagtail trophy

Oil on panel
Signed lower left
22 x 17 cm

The painter Eugène Édouard SALINGRE was born in Soissons in 1829.

He began painting in secret, at home and it was only when he was sure of himself, satisfied with his work, that he dared to show his paintings. Quite simply a small masterpiece, the first pearls of its artistic setting.

He had made a specialty in which he was very successful: Still Life.
His favorite works are reproductions of game and small birds hanging from a nail by the paw. Game is the main thing; the rest is the accessory. All this was painted with a surety of glance, a finish, a delicacy of touch, a rare precision, an exactitude of detail, a richness of colors, a variety of tones, that only the OUDRY, the DESPORTES, the VOLLONS possess. However, SALINGRE did not imitate anyone, did not attend any school. His talent developed while working. He confined himself to copying nature and knew how to preserve the object he wanted to reproduce his own physiognomy. He sought to give his birds a striking truthfulness.

Almost every year and for twenty years between 1859 and 1879, one or more paintings by SALINGRE were admitted to the Paris Salon. Besides the capital, SALINGRE sent his works to exhibitions in the big cities of the provinces where he was regularly rewarded. Thus, we could see them in Reims, Saint-Quentin, Amiens, Versailles, etc.

The Société des Amis des Arts de Reims admitted him into its ranks, as did the Archaeological Society of Soissons. He was also part of the Society of French Artists.

This true artist, shy to the point, never left Soissons, probably preferring tranquility to glory, and having no other pleasure than his brushes and his easel.

SALINGRE died suddenly in his hometown on September 29, 1892 at the age of 63.

Museum: Soissons