The cattle market, circa 1880

Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
Located on the back “Forges les eaux-Seine inferior”
Dimensions: 55 x 65 cm
With frame: 73 x 85 cm

This is a very early impressionist work in Pierre Vauthier's work. We can date it around 1880.
Seine-Maritime, the cradle of Impressionism, was the welcoming land of Impressionist painters, all dazzled by its incomparable light.
The very lively scene is located in the pretty village of Forges-les-eaux in a green setting. The atmosphere is one of work, the horse dealers discuss and negotiate. The animals and the men mix together forming a compact group.
The subject, the touch and the point of view are the sign of an impressionist painter. The typical scene, the rustic and anecdotal subject, which shows without really showing are the sign of the painter's talent. Rather than the subject, he favors the atmosphere. 

Pierre Vauthier and his brother Réné, also a landscape painter, were born in Pernambuco, Brazil, to French parents. An impressionist painter, a student, like his brother, of Maxime Lalanne, he made his debut at the Paris Salon in 1874. Pierre Vauthier quickly found success. Acclaimed by critics, he won numerous awards.

He was made a member of the Society of French Artists in 1883, received an honorable mention at the Salon of 1884, and was awarded the medal of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1895. He was one of the painters of his generation who participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1889 and that of Paris in 1900. 

Pierre Vauthier paints landscapes of the Paris region. Attracted by the charm of the suburbs and Normandy, both urban and rural, he captures their gentleness and good humor in canvases bathed in delicate light. 

 References:

• Gerald Schurr, Pierre Cabane, “Dictionary of the Little Masters of Painting, 1820-1920”, Volume 2, Paris, Les éditions de l'amateur, 1982, p. 117

• Emmanuel Bénézit, “Dictionary of painters, sculptors, designers and engravers”, vol. 14, Librairie Gründ, re-ed. 1976, p. 75

• Lydia Harambourg, “French landscape painters in XIXe », Paris, Ides et Calendes, 1985

  Museums:

• In Paris, Orsay Museum, Petit Palais Museum, Carnavalet Museum, Department of Graphic Arts, Louvre Museum.

• Antwerp, Bourges, Chambéry Museum of Fine Arts, Draguignan, Moulins.