Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Oil on Canvas 19th Century
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Detail of 19th Century French Art
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Animated Historical Scene Detail
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Detail figures demonstrating in the square Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Detail Old Master French Art
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Child having fun waving a small red flag Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Period French Painting Detail
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
Detail Signature Antique French Paintings Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne Oil on Canvas
19th Century French Oil on Canvas
Oil on canvas painting depicting several figures demonstrating in the square. In the foreground, two men who are arguing heatedly and a woman is trying to push a man away. There’s a child having fun waving a small red flag. Behind them, hundreds of demonstrators are carrying guns and flags.
Signed lower right.
A beautiful gold frame completes the work. Very good condition. It comes from a Dutch private collection.
Description
Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne (1847-1913)
French art was deeply influenced by three wars during the 19th century, and the artistic imagination was not lost upon the public. “Patriotism comes to the aid of battle painters, presenting them with a sympathetic public already fascinated by the subject,” a contemporary remarked.
After the short Franco-Prussian war of 1870, French painters were particularly eager to restore national pride by showing works that reflected national heroism versus the brutality of the enemy.
Wilfried Constant Beauquesne was a French painter, native of Rennes, known for his scenic depictions of this war. He was undoubtedly influenced in the choice of subjects by his teachers at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Both Vernet-Lecomte and Horace Vernet were well-known military artists. Vernet had lived and worked during the Napoleonic wars, receiving the Legion of Honor from the emperor himself. Beauquesne exhibited regularly at the annual Paris Salon between 1887 and 1899, as well as throughout Europe.
In 1890, the American magazine The Art Amateur ran the following article in its gossip column:
“A queer story comes to me from Paris. A commission agent made a bargain with a poor painter, living out at Saint-Maude, to paint military subjects for him, at two francs an hour. The agent changed the signature to that of Gaubault and sold the pictures to various dealers. One day, by chance, the poor painter came to Paris, went to the Salon, and was astonished to see one of his pictures there. He looked at the catalogue and found the name of the artist and the address of the dealer where he was to be found. The poor artist went to the dealer and introduced himself saying, ‘I am Gaubault.’ ‘Most happy to make your acquaintance,’ replied the dealer. ‘Your pictures sell very well, and I have been wanting to see you for the last six years.’ ‘But my name is not Gaubault, it is Beauquesne.’
Explanations followed. The dishonest commission agent disappeared and Beauquesne restored his real signature on the pictures, which had made his pseudonym almost famous.”
