ANTIQUE PAINTINGS, HUNTING DOG PORTRAITS, FRENCH HOUNDS, OIL ON CANVAS, 19TH CENTURY (QA756)

 

The Antique Paintings – Dog Portraits category presents an oil on canvas painting depicting a refined hunting dog portrait,

executed with remarkable pictorial sensitivity and careful naturalistic observation.

The subject is a pointing dog (chiens d’arrêt), most likely a Pointer or French Braque. Dated to the 19th century.

The animal is shown in profile, with an alert yet slightly melancholic gaze, set against a neutral, luminous background that

enhances the head and facial expression.

The brushwork is soft and controlled, characteristic of late 19th-century French figurative painting.

This is a charming antique hunting dog portrait from the late 19th century.

The antique painting is signed lower left Théodore Lévigne, a French painter renowned for landscapes, genre scenes, and portraits.

Théodore Lévigne (1848–1912) was born in Noirétable, a small town in the French Massif Central.

His family soon moved to Lyon, in the Saint-Jean district, where the young artist displayed an early passion for drawing and painting.

Around 1860, at the age of 12, he entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Lyon, studying there until 1862.

At just 15 years old, he was awarded the Laurier d’Or, the school’s highest honor, for a work entitled Un portrait.

He later relocated to Paris, where he refined his academic training under Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Léon Gérôme,

among the most influential masters of the period.

Throughout his career, Lévigne regularly exhibited at the Paris Salon and other public exhibitions.

His works are now held in museums in Chambéry, Lyon, Nice, and elsewhere.

The artwork retains its original gilded frame, contemporary with the 19th-century painting.

Both the antique painting and its frame have undergone careful professional restoration.

The category Antique Paintings, Dog Portraits, Hunting Dog Portraits, Pointer, French hounds, oil on canvas,

19th century, belongs to the Bisgart Collection.

YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/KyNrbhC5Lkc

Bibliography:
E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs.

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Canvas size: 35 × 27 cm
Framed size:  50 × 42 cm
Depth: 4 cm
Weight: 2 kg

Antique Paintings | Dog Portraits | Hunting Dog Portrait | French Antiques | French Hounds