Artist: Constant Troyon (French, 1810–1865)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
32.75 x 50.75 inches
40 x 57 inches, framed
Description:
This work depicts a shepherd and his sheep dog tending his flock on a sunny path with a view of the sea. The coast appears to be Normandy, and the shepherd’s Breton-style hat indicates that he may be far from home. While the central sheep looks directly to the viewer, the shepherd looks off to sea. This motif, with the shepherd gazing off over the sea, may be a reference to La Fontaine’s fable The Shepherd and the Sea.
Provenance:
Dr. & Mrs Lloyd Vernon Briggs, Boston
By descent to Mrs. Eleanor Briggs Lewis, Hancock, NY,
thence by gift to a Mid-Atlantic Museum, circa 1975,
Purchased at auction May 3, 2016 Doyle, Impressionist & Modern Art for the collection of a prominent Northeast Ohio collector.
Stretcher retains two paper labels, one inscribed L.V. Briggs/64 Beacon St/City, and one indicating that the painting was on loan to the Fogg Museum, Harvard, Inventory # TL.1182HB
Type of Work: Paintings