GEORGES LAUGÉE
(French, b.1853)
SHEPHERDESS WITH FLOCK
Oil on Canvas
15.25 x 21.75 Inches
Signed Lower Left ‘Georges Laugée’

Born in Montivilliers on December 19, 1853, Georges Laugée first studied with his father, Désiré, the prominent French Realist. Continuing his studies at l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he studied at the ateliers of Isidore Pils and Henri Lehmann. In 1877, he made his debut at the Paris Salon and, in 1881, was awarded a medal for his Salon entries of that year. Laugée was also awarded medals at the Universal Expositions of 1889 and 1900. In 1907, he was elected to membership of the jury of the Société des Artistes Français and, in 1908, to the jury of the Salon des Artistes Français. Until 1910, Georges Laugée shared a studio with his brother-in-law, Julien Dupré, the famous realist master whose artistic vision he shared and whose ideals he so eloquently espoused. Georges Laugée’s work is held in the permanent collections of state museums throughout France, including at the Musée Amien, the Musée Boulogne and the Musée Rouen among many others. The present work is similar in both theme and composition to Laugeé’s juried exhibit (Le Preferé, The Favorite) exhibited at the Salon of 1891. That work is illustrated in the 1894 edition of Great Paintings of the World, and accompanied by the following description: “…In every family, however impartial the parents try to feel, there is always one child for whom, could she bring herself to confess it, the mother has a place in her heart a little warmer than she keeps for any other. The little shepherdess in this charming picture is exemplifying this universal truth of human nature, in her quiet encouragement of the approaches of the favorite lamb of her little flock. This is the pet lamb that she helps over all the stony places, and with which she shares even her own frugal meal. It is a simple story the artist has chosen to tell; but he has set it in a scene of tender and idyllic beauty, thoroughly appropriate to the gentle theme of affection he has selected for the central thought." The delicate and lyrical insights of this commentary apply equally to the painting we are offering.

Reference:

Les Petits Maîtres de la Peinture, Schurr, 1979, Vol. IV; Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Vol. VIII, p.323; Kunstlexicon, Thieme-Becker, Vol.XXII, p.437; Mallett’s Index of Artists, p.245; Davenport’s Art Reference Guide, 2003/4 Edition, p.1223; et al.