Jean-Ferdinand Chaigneau

JEAN-FERDINAND CHAIGNEAU (Bordeaux, 1830- Barbizon, 1906).
"Sunset with sheep between huts".
Oil on canvas.
Restorations.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 80 x 135 cm; 103 x 158 cm (frame).

Jean Ferdinand Chaigneau offers us here one of his characteristic canvases starring flocks of sheep in atmospheric landscapes, often with effects of morning or evening light. As we can see, the Barbizon artist was noted for his ability to capture the essence of rural life and the beauty of the French landscape.

Jean Ferdinand Chaigneau was a French painter and engraver of the Barbizon School, nephew of Raymond Eugène Goethals (1804-1864), a landscape and marine painter. He was known mainly for his landscapes, rural scenes with animals (especially sheep) and, to a lesser extent, for his portraits. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was a pupil of Jules Coignet. He also received training in the workshop of Charles-François Daubigny, an influential painter of the Barbizon School, which explains his inclination towards landscape. He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon from 1848 until the end of his life, where he received several medals. His work is currently preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux, the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.