French school; 1886.

French school; 1886.
Untitled, 1886.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has slight damage to the pictorial surface and restorations.
Signed and dated in the lower right area.
Measurements: 90 x 69 cm.
This work is located within the solid tradition of the European still life, particularly in its aspect of hunting still life, a subgenre that had wide development since the XVII century and that in the XIX century knew a renewed vitality. The representation of the hanging hare, accompanied by vegetable elements and utensils, refers directly to this heritage, where the painting not only exhibits technical skill, but also alludes to social practices such as hunting and domestic material culture.
From the stylistic point of view, the work reveals a clear affiliation with French realism, heir to the sensibility of artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, although reinterpreted under the assumptions of the nineteenth century. The treatment of light is particularly significant: a directed spotlight precisely models the volume of the animal, highlighting the texture of the fur with an almost tactile detail, while the dark, neutral background intensifies the effect of relief.