Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892)

Painting by Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892)
Oil on canvas signed lower left - Antique frame gilded with gold leaf.

Dimensions:
Frame dimensions: 71 x 53.5 cm.
Canvas dimensions: 49 x 32 cm.

Biography:
Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892) began his artistic career in the style of marine painter Johan Barthold Jongkind and specialized in rendering nautical scenes such as Sailing Boats in the Harbor of Caen.
He moved to Paris in 1855, settling in Montmartre, where he spent the rest of his life. He lived successively at 20 Chaussée de Clignancourt (now Rue de Clignancourt), then Rue des Rosiers, Rue de la Fontenelle (1870-1887) (these two streets have formed Rue du Chevalier-de-La-Barre since 1907) and finally at 18 Rue de Clignancourt.
In 1859, he made his debut at the Salon, where he exhibited until 1880. He presented Port de Caen, Effet clair de lune (Port of Caen, Moonlight Effect). During this period, he married his childhood friend Marie-Odile-Emilie Dodin.
In 1860, he began a more professional apprenticeship in the workshop of Jean Baptiste-Camille Corot, copying some of his paintings. He then met Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), whose friendship would be accompanied on several occasions by financial assistance.
In 1861, his submission to the Salon was rejected, but his Pont des Invalides was accepted in 1863.
Having become a friend of Corot and living apart from official circles, it was thanks to the support of Count Doria that he was able to continue painting. Along with Adolphe-Félix Cals, the count took them under his wing and welcomed them into his château in Orrouy.
At Corot's, he developed a personal style, halfway between the pastoral spirit of his master's compositions and the atmospheric landscapes of the Impressionists: La Rue Saint Vincent, circa 1875 (Musée d'Orsay), Montmartre, 1878, and Paris, le pont des Arts, 1880.
From 1870 onwards, Durand-Ruel began to take an interest in his work, and he took part in the exhibition that Durand-Ruel organized in London in 1871. However, the severe economic crisis that raged from 1873 to 1879 forced the dealer to stop buying.
He never matched the popularity of his contemporary colleagues, but he was invited to participate in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, where he exhibited three views of Paris, including Bords de Seine. However, he distanced himself from the group, fearing that the scandal surrounding their events would harm his career, and preferred to present his works at the Salon.
He continued his solitary work along the three lines he had been exploring since his beginnings: views of Paris, views of its surroundings, and paintings depicting the Normandy coast and villages. To survive, the artist organized the first auction of his works in 1874. He put thirty-four paintings up for sale at the Hôtel Drouot in 1874, and the following year, twenty-three paintings were sold at auction, earning him a reasonable sum for the time.
In the 1880s, there was a shift in the subjects he depicted, as in Noces à Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (Wedding at Saint-Étienne-du-Mont). He painted a series of views of Parisian parks and gardens (Trocadéro, Luxembourg, Tuileries) in which he showed an interest in anecdotal details, which was very unusual for him until then: couples strolling, schoolchildren playing, nannies with young children, etc.
He regularly participated in the Salon des Artistes Français from 1881 to 1889. His talent was finally recognized in 1884 when he received an “honorable mention” at the Salon. For the painting La Seine à l'Estacade, exhibited at the 1885 Salon, he produced numerous small preparatory canvases, which can now be found at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and in a private collection.
He died on September 28, 1892, in his Paris apartment, and his funeral was held at the Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre.