catalog text
"LEADING HER FLOCK" BY MARTIN COULAUD (FRENCH, 1860-1906)
Signed lower right "M. Coulaud", executed in oil on canvas
Item # 906ZJP15Q
A simply outstanding painting of a young woman leading her sheep down a worn dirt path in the rain, it is a sweet scene that perfectly juxtaposes the bucolic with reality. There is no glossing over the young girl's situation as she trudges down a muddy path in her simple peasant handmade clothing under the coverage of a torn and weathered umbrella, and despite this there is an understated cheer in her demeanor. The warm high-chroma palette and lifting haze in the background suggests the day is clearing with the sun perhaps ready to break through. The scene is the very essence of the Barbizon, pushing against the gilded ideals of the Industrial aesthetic and showing reality for the commoner exactly as it is: hard, rough, dirty, but also remarkably simple and alive. The collective of sheep surrounding her as their leader are a fascinating flock of great variety and no singular focus as the young girl's dog looks on in the distance.
Little is known about the life of Martin Coulaud. Born in the village of Cournon in the Auvergne region of France in 1860, he was elected to the Society des Artistes Français in Paris in 1903. His works are almost invariably landscape scenes of peasant life, often focusing on sheep and shepherds.
Literature & Further Reading:
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. IV, Gründ, 2006, p. 53
- Popular 19th Century Painting, A Dictionary of European Genre Painters, Hook & Poltimore, p. 239 [listing], p. 249 [illustration of "Shepherd with His Flock"]
Measurements: 18 1/8" H x 25 5/8" W [canvas]; 23 5/8" H x 31" W x 1 3/8" D [frame]
Condition Report:
Contemporary frame. Under UV a handful of speck touch ups to sky, beside umbrella, edge of upper right corner. Light craquelure to surface throughout. Clean and in beautiful presentation-ready condition.