Lot 45: PAUL PEEL 1860 - 1892

PAUL PEEL 1860 - 1892 BRINGING HOME THE FLOCK signed, dated and inscribed lower left PAUL PEEL, 1881 Brittany oil on canvas 63.5 by 53.3 cm. 25 by 21 in.

Victoria Baker, Paul Peel, A Retrospective, 1860 - 1892, London, 1986, p. 26, quote by A. Henry Blackburn

Possibly sold at Oliver, Coate & Co., Toronto, October, 1890. no. 31, under the title, Return of the Flock

Private Collection, Ontario

Peel studied his craft in Philadelphia under Thomas Eakins and later in the Paris ateliers where the study of anatomy and the academic tradition were stressed.

It was in Paris that he soon mastered how to depict the effects of light and shadow in his paintings and, as in Bringing Home the Flock, his "plein air" images are a testament to how quickly he absorbed how to depict strong light in his art while still striving to adhere to the academic principles.

This was Peel's first summer in Pont Aven, Brittany and Peel was to carefully document what he saw. He delighted in sentimental studies of children and this work is a colourful example of life in this small tourist resort for artists.

As Henry Blackburn noted in 1879:

It would be very strange if a country so besprinkled with white caps should not attract artists in search of picturesque costume and scenes of pastoral life... Brittany offers the best opportunities for outdoor study, and more suggestive scenes for the painter.

This study of the young Breton girl in her native costume exemplifies the landscape of Brittany.