




Paul Louis Narcisse Grolleron(French, 1848-1901)Troops Pausing on a Village Road in Winter
US$7,000 - US$9,000
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Jelena James
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale

Bids (Bonhams Skinner)

Jewel Bernier
Cataloguer

Claire Dettelbach
Cataloguer
Paul Louis Narcisse Grolleron (French, 1848-1901)
signed and indistinctly dated 'P. Grolleron 18...' (lower left); with fragmentary auction labels (affixed to the reverse)
oil on canvas
229.2 x 170.8 cm (90 1/4 x 67 1/4 in).
framed 239.4 x 185.4 x 6.0 cm (94 1/4 x 73 x 2 in).
Footnotes
N.B.
Paul Grolleron was born in Burgundy and studied in Paris under the genre painter Léon Bonnat, whose academic genre paintings greatly influenced his own artistic trajectory. Grolleron exhibited at the Salon de Paris beginning in 1873. He is best known for his highly detailed, atmospheric paintings of military subjects, particularly of the Napoleonic and later Franco-Prussian wars, of which the present work is a wonderful example. This work depicts French infantry troops coming upon a small village in winter. The wet snow on the road and the overcast sky imbue the scene with a haunting atmosphere. An old man - a bright pop of blue against the grey landscape - converses briefly with one of the soldiers, both men gesturing to something off right. Behind them, other soldiers warm their hands, re-lace their boots, or watch the discussion.