catalog text
"SHEEP IN STABLE" INTERIOR SCENE PAINTING BY ALBERT CHARPIN (FRENCH, 1842-1924)
Signed lower left "Charpin", in oil on panel in period frame
Item # 812CVD01J
As a well-known member of the Barbizon School and student of Charles-François Daubigny, Albert Charpin's paintings were faithful in their representation of what is rather than idealizing what nature could be. The present example is an interesting scene in its depiction of a rather large group of sheep, six in total including the lamb, gathered together at a manger in a realistically dirty and chaotic barn interior. A single chicken walks around the flock, largely ignoring the sheep in search of better things. The focus of the scene is on the foremost ewe with her lamb as a hidden light source illuminates the two of them. Charpin's eye for detail is notable, one of the sheep forcing her head through the bars of the manger in a show of relentless curiosity as she reaches for the upper limits of the feed. The work is signed in the lower left corner in a soft script in black pigment "Charpin".
Measurements: 17 1/2" H x 21 1/4" W x 3" D [frame]; 9 3/8" H x 13 1/4" W [panel]
Condition Report:
Professionally cleaned and conserved: touch ups visible under UV to extreme edges where frame rubs panel. Old period frame with gilt losses and extreme oxidization to gilding and name placard; chip loss to the gilt wood matting edge of the frame along the top edge of the painting.