Paul-Desiré Trouillebert

PAUL DESIRÉ TROUILLEBERT (Paris, 1829-1900).
"The Danaids".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right area.
Measurements: 50 x 69 cm; 59 x 78 cm (frame).
Oil on canvas of loose and expressive brushstroke in which Paul-Désiré Trouillebert represents the Danaids, figures of the Greek mythology known by their eternal punishment: to pour water incessantly in a container without bottom, as expiation for having murdered their husbands the night of marriage. In this work, Trouillebert moves away from academic precision and opts for a free and atmospheric technique that envelops the figures in a dreamlike atmosphere.
The Danaids appear scattered in a misty and humid landscape. The brushstroke is vibrant, fast, almost impressionistic, which gives the painting a sense of constant movement, in keeping with the endless action of the myth.
The faces of the figures and their silhouettes blend with the surroundings. The whole does not seek a literal narrative, but evokes the emotional atmosphere of condemnation and meaningless repetition. Trouillebert's technical and stylistic choices thus emphasize the symbolic dimension of the myth rather than its exact representation, making this painting a poetic and modern interpretation of eternal punishment.
Paul-Désiré Trouillebert was a painter of diverse inclinations and techniques. A student of Ernest Hébert and Charles Jalabert at the École des beaux-arts in Paris, he cultivated genre and landscape painting, but he was also an excellent portraitist and a fine artist of the "nude". For his wild landscapes, painted "en plein air", he fully belonged to the Barbizon School and also followed the trend of orientalism, which he often used to set the scene for his nudes.
He made his debut in 1865 at the Salon with a portrait, and exhibited continuously, obtaining great critical and public success in 1869 with the work "Au bois Rossignolet", in which he portrayed a charming wooded landscape. For his landscapes, for which he is perhaps best known, Trouillebert was largely inspired by the later works of Corot.
He had two fixed studios and a mobile one, the first in Paris, the other at Candes-Saint-Martin, where the Marne and Loire meet, and a third aboard a barge with which he traveled the Marne and Loire. He worked both in the capital and in his residence on the banks of the river.