La maison rose, bord de L’Oise

A true renaissance man, Jean-François Raffaëlli was an accomplished actor, musician, printmaker, draftsman, sculptor, and author, as well as a painter. After a brief enrollment in the studio of Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1871 proved to be a poor fit, Raffaëlli set out on a self-directed Grand Tour through Europe and North Africa, but unlike other artists who fell under the sway of foreign lands, it was Paris, the city of his birth, and the surrounding countryside that could never be replaced as the artist’s muse.
Away from the cacophony of the capital city, Raffaëlli replaces bustling characters on busy boulevards with a few figures engaging with a small boat, the streets themselves are replaced with a slow current in the water and tall imposing buildings by a singular blooming tree. The warm pink tones and pastel shades around the houses bring a calm character to the painting, showing Raffaëlli to be just at home on a river bank as in the heart of Paris.

We are grateful to Galerie Brame & Lorenceau and the Comité Raffaëlli for confirming the authenticity of this work. The work will be included in their digital Raffaëlli Catalogue critique, now in preparation.