Alexandre Antigna

Follower of ALEXANDRE ANTIGNA (Orléans, 1817-Paris, 1878).
"The Fire", 19th century.
Oil on canvas. Re-tinted 100 years ago.
Size: 35 x 34 cm; 44 x 43 cm (frame).
This canvas faithfully reproduces one of Alexandre Antigna's most remarkable works, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans. It is a large canvas (262x282 cm), executed around 1850, which depicts the drama of a humble family fleeing from the flames raging through their old flat. While the woman closes the door and protects her children, the father of the family desperately calls for help through the window.
Trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, he was a pupil of Sebastien Norblin de la Gourdaine and Paul Delaroche. At the beginning of his career, he painted exclusively religious paintings and portraits. Later, after living in a poor district of Paris, he began to produce works in which he depicted tragic scenes, with images of the poverty and suffering that surrounded him. He travelled around Brittany and Spain, where he produced small-format naturalistic works, especially scenes of the Ansó Valley in Aragon. In 1860 he exhibited at the Paris Salon. He was awarded the French Legion of Honour. His works are kept in important French art galleries such as the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse and the Musée Charles Bruyères in Remiremont.