François Adolphe GRISON (Bordeaux, 1846-Geneva, 1914) - Lot 114

François Adolphe GRISON (Bordeaux, 1846-Geneva, 1914) Family in an Interior Original oil on canvas signed lower right. Circa 1880. 69.4 x 79.5 cm. Antique mahogany frame. Although born in Bordeaux, François Grison's roots are in Alsace. The son of a painter, a pupil of his father and then of Lequien, he lived in Strasbourg from 1871 to 1880, and played a part in the revival of an Alsatian school that had been devastated by the exodus of many artists after 1870. One of his most striking works is a fairground representation that decorates the restaurant Le Crocodile in Strasbourg. Grison then settled in Champigny-sur-Marne, until 1895, before ending his career near Geneva. He exhibited his work in Paris at the Salon des artistes français between 1873 and 1910, as well as at the salons des Amis des Arts in Strasbourg and Mulhouse. Is our painting a family portrait commissioned by a wealthy notable? Or does it correspond to Salon 1887 number 1104: Ma famille (exhibited alongside portraits). In which case, the artist would have wanted to emphasize his social success rather than his bohemian profession. In any case, the painting is a perfect example of the decorative profusion of the 1880s, with its Sarah Bernhardt-style bearskin and innumerable knick-knacks. The girls in the house, lively, frilly works of art, look as if they've stepped out of La Mode illustrée or Journal des Demoiselles, with their "faux-cul" dresses, richly pleated, bouillonné, bowed and laced, iridescent with moiré reflections, extending into trains. Monsieur, dressed in a chamois velvet dinner jacket and beige pants, his nose pinched by lorgnons and his Third Republic beard, the satisfied air of an accomplished man, turns to his slightly melancholy wife. Served by a skilful, meticulous touch, the image has the descriptive quality and sociological acuity of a page of Zola.