Contemplation on the riverbank

Adrien Moreau initially trained as an apprentice glassmaker, but soon decided to study painting at the École des Beaux-Arts under Isidore Pils. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1868, where a contemporary art critic described him as being "among the ranks of the greatest painters of contemporary genre" (Joseph Uzanne, Figures Contemporains Tirée de l’Album Mariani, vol. 8, Paris: Libraire Henri Floury, 1903). Moreau was awarded silver medals for his work in 1876, 1889 and 1900 and was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1892.