Bucolic landscape, 18th century gouache by Jean Baptiste Lallemand

This bucolic landscape, animated by various scenes, depicts the end of a day, with soft, slightly pinkish light coming from the background of the composition; in the center, a river flows, animated by a waterfall and a few bathers; in the distance, we can make out mountains illuminated by the setting sun; on the right, a steep, wooded bank; on the left, a bank where a flock of sheep graze, watched over by a couple of shepherds and their dog; and finally, four or five horsemen stop in front of an inn. This gouache is signed lower left Lallemand,
Jean-Baptiste Lallemand was born in Dijon in 1716, according to some, or in Reims according to others, and died in Paris in 1803. He was a painter of history, seascapes and landscapes, and also engraved etchings. The son of a tailor, he was destined to follow in his father's footsteps, but a chance encounter in his workshop as a tailor's boy in Paris changed all that. A customer, learning of his penchant for painting, commissioned him to paint four pictures on the theme of the four seasons. This first experience, for which he was handsomely paid, encouraged him to continue, and fame soon followed, with enthusiasts vying for his work. He returned to France, spent some time in England where he exhibited a still life at the Society of Artists in London in 1773, then returned to Paris for good. He was accepted as a member of the Académie de Saint Luc in 1751, and regularly took part in their exhibitions. The Bénézit says of him: “Jean Baptiste Lallemand painted landscapes with great taste...his gouaches are particularly interesting...”. His works are held in numerous museums: Angers, Autun, Bordeaux, Dijon, Le Mans, Reims, in Paris at the Louvre and Carnavalet, and in Rome and the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

There is a slight stain in the center of the sky and the old gilding on the frame is a little faded.
Sight dimensions are 17.5 cm x 23.5 cm, the frame is an 18th-century gilded wood baguette measuring 37.5 cm x 42.5 cm.

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