Theodore Richard (1782-1859) Pyrenees Landscape circa 1833

Theodore Richard is a renowned painter. At the peak of his career, he settled in Toulouse in 1833. This painting is a masterful work on the use of light and depth. It depicts a melancholic landscape of the Pyrenees countryside in autumn, a season challenging to capture in painting due to its particular palette of colors. Theodore Richard captures a rolling landscape where nature is adorned in ochre hues, and the sky begins to darken, signaling the approach of winter and the need to gather wood.

This very beautiful painting is signed (monogram) by Theodore Richard and dated 1833 at the bottom left.

Dimensions:
- Without frame: Height 17.52 inches - Length 20.47 inches.
- With frame: Height 21.46 inches - Length 24.41 inches.

The painting is in excellent condition, enhanced by its beautiful carved and gilded wooden frame.

Biography:

Alexandre Louis Marie Theodore Richard, a French painter, was born in Millau on November 24, 1782, and passed away in Toulouse on November 18, 1859. Born into a wealthy family in Millau, he was the son of Pierre-Jacques Richard, a magistrate of the town, and his wife, née Marie-Rose de Lavit.

Initially a chief surveyor in the Cantal, Corrèze, Jura, and Gironde regions, Theodore Richard devoted his leisure time to drawing and painting. In 1823, he left the administration to fully dedicate himself to landscape painting and settled in Toulouse in 1833, where he opened his studio, first at 4, rue de la Madeleine, and then at 11 bis, rue Boulbonne.

A student of Jean-Marie Joseph Ingres and Jean Victor Bertin, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1827 to 1859. He produced over 350 paintings, including historical scenes, pastoral scenes, and landscapes, notably of the Pyrenees, a location favored by a bourgeois clientele fond of spa treatments and picturesque landscape paintings. Theodore Richard achieved success and recognition within the Toulouse art scene, where he held an important place.

From 1830 to 1854, he experienced the pinnacle of his career and was regarded by his peers as a talented painter. He was also the adoptive father of the painter Jacques Raymond Brascassat. Richard built the château and estate of Roquebelle in the commune of Creissels.

His works are present in several public collections, including:

- Aurillac, Museum of Art and Archaeology: Entrance to a Forest in the Cantal.
- Bordeaux, Museum of Fine Arts: Herd on the March.
- Millau, Museum of Millau and Grands Causses: View of Roquebelle; Rougeole Stream; Landscape of Underbrush; Landscape with a Shepherd and His Flock.
- Montpellier, Fabre Museum: Landscape: Rocks and River - View of the Surroundings of Millau; A Farm Near Pau; View of the City and the Castle of Pau.
- Rochefort, Hèbre de Saint-Clément Museum: View of the Old Naval Shipyards in Rochefort.
- Rodez, Denys-Puech Museum of Fine Arts: Park Entrance; Seated Woman, Wolf Devouring a Sheep; Pyrenees Landscape; The Procession of Rogations (The Blessing of the Flocks).
- Rodez, Fenaille Museum: Self-Portrait.
- Toulouse, Augustins Museum: The Woodcutters; Interior of a Forest; View of the Pic du Midi de Pau and the Forest of Gabas; The Forest of Rotherwood. Episode of Ivanhoe.
- Toulouse, Museum of Old Toulouse: Surroundings of Millau.

Exhibitions have been dedicated to his work, notably in Millau at the Museum of Millau and Grands Causses, with the exhibition "Théodore Richard et le paysage" from July 5 to October 31, 2008, and in Rodez at the Denys Puech Museum, with the exhibition "Théodore Richard, portraits et paysages" from February 9, 2012, to June 3, 2012.