Alfred de Dreux

Baron de Croze
Madame Paul Hottinguer, née Christine Robinet de Plas, Domaine de Champ-Brûlé, Fontenailles
Private Collection

Paris, Galerie La Cymaise, Alfred de Dreux, September 20-October 29, 1988
Milwaukee, Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Children in Art, A Century of Change, February 12-May 23, 1999, no. 12

C. L. Carter, "Paradise Lost? Changing Images in Childhood," Children in Art, A Century of Change, exh. cat., Milwaukee, 1999, p. 13, illustrated p. 57
Marie-Christine Renaud, Alfred de Dreux, September 20-October 29, 1988, illustrated p. 21
Marie-Christine Renauld, L'univers d'Alfred de Dreux, 1810-1860, suivi du catalogue raisonné, 2008, illlustrated p. 227, p. 71, Inv.MCR 306, illustrated

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This large and impressive painting has probably been restored in the last 30 years. We do not recommend any further restoration. The paint layer may be dirty, however, pictures such as this one, with a lot of glazes employed in the darker colors very often benefit from a slight patina of age. The canvas is lined. Under ultraviolet light one can see that the hair around the forehead may have been slightly strengthened. There are a few spots of retouching on the lips and around the eyes which are to be expected from pictures of this period. In the remainder of the picture, there are an assortment of tiny dots in isolated spots; some in the neck of the dog and around the eye of the black dog, and others along the bottom and right edges to address frame abrasion. Under ultraviolet light pockets of old varnish are visible in the darker colors, but none of these factors are an indication that the condition is anything but good. Although the picture could be further attended to by a restorer, the overall presentation is very good and the picture can be hung as is.
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From his auspicious start in the studio of Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), de Dreux enjoyed early success, both professionaly and socially, in Europe's upper classes. A confirmed dandy (going to far as to alter his surname "Dedreux" to the more aristocratic "De Dreux" ) the artist travelled in the circles of the beau monde. During the July Monarchy, de Dreux completed a series of works of elegant men and women in landscape settings, often astride spirited horses and accompanied by their loyal canine companions. The success of such pictures earned the artist an invitation to accompany King Louis-Philippe on his official state visit to meet Queen Victoria in London in 1844. During this trip, further exposure to the works of British artists such as George Morland, John Constable, and Edwin Henry Landseer had a profound impact on the artist.  The influence of the English sporting artists coupled with the artist's affinity for fine things and finer people is evident in the delightful genre scene Innocence Between Two Thieves (painted circa 1835-40).  In the present work a young girl well-dressed in pink satins and decorated straw hat sits on the back of a huge mastiff, while at the left a black spaniel raises itself on its haunches.  Both canines (the "thieves") had historic prescence at royal courts and aristocratic homes yet naturally eye the crust of bread the wary child ("innocence") clutches protectively against her chest.  The composition was popularized in a print by Pierre-Amédée Varin (1818-1883) entitled L'Innocence entre deux larrons," published in October 1859 and widely distributed.  The biblical resonance of the tile would have appealed to the sensibilities of many a mid-nineteenth century collector of animal pictures.