Manon Lescaut going into exile, Albert MATIGNON (1869-1937)

Oil on canvas depicting Manon Lescaut departing for exile, signed lower right A. MATIGNON, circa 1890. The central character of Abbé Prévost's novel "Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" (1731), the heroine is shown here departing for exile aboard a Mississippi Company ship bound for New Orleans around 1724-1725. Albert Matignon (1869-1937), a student of Hébert and Albert Maignan, exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français (gold medal in 1914). Museums: Bucharest, Le Mans, Nemours, Tarbes. Bénézit, Vol. VII, p. 259. Original Louis XVI ribbon frame (minor restoration needed in the upper right corner). 85 x 65 cm with frame.