Attributed to Jules Noël (1810–1873), 歸屬於 - Pêcheuse sur une plage

Attributed to Jules Noël (Nancy, 1810 – Algiers, 1873)

Fisherwoman on a beach, oil on panel. French School, 19th century. Dated 1836.

Maritime genre scene featuring a fisherwoman with a large straw hat, white apron and red skirt, standing on a shore; in the background, stranded fishing boats, figures and sails in a misty light typical of the coasts of the Channel. Lively handling, knife impasto in the foreground and on the linen, atmosphere typical of Jules Noël’s production, painter of marine and Breton and Norman coast landscapes, precursor of impressionist sensibility (works preserved notably at the Musée d’Orsay and at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper).

Dating and inscriptions: the work bears on the front, at the bottom, the date “1836” painted in red within the paint layer. It is not signed by a name on the front. On the back there are, in two places (the crossbar of the panel and the support), the handwritten inscription “Jules Noël” as well as the date “1836”; these back-notes should be regarded as an ancient attribution, concordant with the date on the front.

Attribution: probable but not definitive attribution (“attribué à”).

Frame: wooden and gilded stucco Rococo-style frame, period, bearing on the back the label of the Parisian framer-gilder Souty, 15 Rue du Louvre, opposite the Colonnade — a business active in the 1830s, which places the framing in the same period as the date of the work. Sold with its frame.

Dimensions: 24 × 17 cm; with frame 37 × 30 cm.

Provenance: acquired during a succession clearance in Chatou (Yvelines, France), within an ensemble also including oils by Samuel Frère — consistent with a collection belonging to an amateur of the 19th-century Normandy school. On the back a numbered label “0494316” (probable old inventory number).

Condition: the paint layer is sound, with slight age cracking; the original frame shows losses and gilding wear, in keeping with its age. See detailed photos.