Paul Michel Dupuy

PAUL MICHEL DUPUY (France, 1869- 1949).
Untitled.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has Repainting on the pictorial surface and slight damage to the frame.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 85 x 123 cm; 106 x 143 cm (frame).
In this work, Paul Michel Dupuy represents with sensitivity a scene of migration or rural crossing. A family crosses a mountainous landscape: the father guides a donkey where the mother and a baby travel, while several children walk beside him. The composition conveys effort, family unity and resilience, framed by an imposing natural environment.
With a warm palette and loose but precise brushwork, Dupuy combines narrative realism with a humanistic approach, typical of late French academicism. The work invites us to reflect on the daily experiences of the popular classes in transit, with an intimate and respectful tone.
Paul-Michel Dupuy was a French painter. Trained in the workshops of Albert Maignan and Léon Bonnat, he participated annually in the Salon des Artistes Français from 1897, where he became part of the jury and obtained the classification of hors-concours, which allowed him to exhibit without going through the selection process.
He was made a knight of the Legion of Honor, and his works are kept in prestigious institutions such as the Luxembourg Museum and the Petit Palais, as well as in various fine arts museums in cities such as Philadelphia, Sydney, Pau, Saint-Étienne, Bourges, Vierzon and Roubaix. Among his most outstanding works are Le Luxembourg, located in the Senate Palace, and Bateliers au port Henri-Quatre, in the Petit Palais. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture houses his decorative panel entitled Le Blé, along with the decoration of the great hall of that institution.