Completed British 18th C, except portraits, British 19th C, except portraits, Continental European after 1800, Continental European before 1800 15 Can you identify the artist of this interior? Could it be Jean-Baptiste Greuze?

Interior - Chambermaid and Man with Books
Topic: Artist

Can anyone help us identify the artist?

We recently received an enquiry about this painting. We have no information about it and the artist is listed as unknown. After having a look at the reverse I spotted a very small printed label glued to the stretcher, possibly an exhibition label.

70. The Companion Greuze

After doing a quick search I came up with the name Jean-Baptiste Greuze. The painting doesn't appear to be signed. Can anyone help us identify the artist?

Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Entry reviewed by Art UK

Completed, Outcome

This discussion is now closed. The attribution has been changed from unknown artist to ‘Etienne Aubry (1745–1781) (follower of)’ and the title amended slightly to 'A Schoolboy and a Chambermaid in an Interior'.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. To anyone viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all the comments that led to this conclusion.

14 comments

Clive Hamilton,

An interesting painting clearly in a style suggesting Greuze. The discarded shoe, the distress of the young maid, the unbuttoned clothing of the boy, suggests a narrative popular at the time. In this case perhaps a young son of the household visiting the maid rather than going to school (see books). His cheeky stare and the placing of the finger to his lips indicates that he is asking the viewer to keep his secret. In the 18C the discarded shoe suggests a certain act has taken place and the girl's distress suggests she is having second thoughts. The addition of the mattress cast on the floor leaves little to the imagination. In summary, unless it is a copy of perhaps a work by Greuze or a follower of this artist, the narrative is well represented and would have appealed to buyers of the time.

A quick web sarch has not yet found it, but a closely related subject is Greuze’s ‘Les plaintes de l'horloge’ or ‘La vertu chancelante’ (Virtue faltering) in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. See the engraving in the BM 1871,0812.3830 and the original painting on the Web Gallery of Art.

Christophe JANET,

Influenced by Greuze undoubtedly, but clearly by a follower as its lacks Greuze. I would suggest somebody working in the orbit od Etienne Aubry (1746-1781) . Indeed, Aubry often incorporated very greuzian figures (especially for female models). He often painted moralizing genre paintings (very popular around the time of the French Revolution). Nevertheless it is a bit more caricatural than established works by Aubry.

My suggestion would be that it can be best described as a follower/workshop of Etienne Aubry.

Christophe JANET,

comparisons:
Aubry 'Heureuse famille' Piasa, paris lot 178 31/03/2014
Aubry 'Mère heureuse' Christies London lot 256 03/07/2013
Aubry 'Fils fautif' Christie's NY lot 286 31/01/2013
Aubry 'Les bulles de savon' Rieunier, paris, lot 16, 17/06/2002
Aubry 'La cruche cassée' Christie's Paris, lot 53, 26/06/2002

It just falls a bit short to be fully attributed by Aubry.

I don't think I have read that a precise prototype of this composition has been found, but there is little doubt that Greuze is the artist who lies behind it. It must be a somewhat later copy of a painting or print as Greuze's touch is much more subtle than this.

Alastair Laing,

I would concur with Christophe Janet in calling it closer to Aubry than to Greuze, but there are some slightly unusual features about it that make me wonder whether it might not even be an English imitation of the genre.

Christophe JANET,

There exists no known direct prototype by Greuze.
Thank you for Alistair Laing's precision that seems right on the spot.

Jacinto Regalado,

The title should be changed, since there is no man in the picture but a schoolboy with a very young housemaid. Something like "The Chambermaid and the Son of the House." It is quite reasonable to classify the picture as "style of" or "manner of" Jean-Baptiste Greuze.

Jacinto Regalado,

A more coy and probably more period-appropriate title would be "The Precocious Schoolboy."

There have been no further comments on this painting for some time, so I am happy to recommend, on the balance of opinion, that the work is attributed to 'Follower of Etienne Aubry (1745-1781)'. As Jacinto recommends, the title could be improved. I would suggest, more precise but not over-presumptious, 'A Schoolboy and a Chambermaid in an Interior.'

Andrew, thank you for your summary. This long-dormant discussion will close after one week (by 5th March), unless significant new information about the artist emerges in the meantime.

Jacinto Regalado,

Andrew, the setting appears to be an attic or garret, so I would use that instead of interior, which is too general.