Jules Alexis Muenier

signed

The W.P. Wilstach Collection, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia (acquired on 16 April 1917. In 1893 Anna H. Wilstach (c. 1822-1892) gifted to the city of Philadelphia the art collection assembled together with her late husband William P. Wilstach (c. 1816-1870), together with an endowment of $500,000. The collection included a second Muenier, The Entrance to the Village, acquired in 1902)
Philadelphia Museum of Art (transferred from the above; deaccesioned 6 January 1947; sale: Parke-Bernet Galleries, February 1947)
Private Collection, USA (sale: Christie's, New York, 1 March 1984, lot 91)
Pyms Gallery, London
Purchased from the above by the present owner circa 1984

Paris, Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, 1907, no. 914
London, Pyms Gallery, Rural and Urban Images: An Exhibition of British and French Paintings 1870-1920, 1984, no. 26, illustrated in the catalogue

Catalogue of the W.P. Wilstach Collection, Philadelphia, 1922, p. 85, no. 219, catalogued (as Harvesters at Rest)
Itinéraires champêtres - Jules Alexis Muenier (1863-1942), peintre sous la III^e République, exh. cat., Vesoul, 2002, p. 6, cited; p. 16, listed

The canvas has not been lined. The work presents very well and is overall in very good condition. Ultra-violet light reveals some scattered spots of finely applied retouching, notably in the sky and above the haystack in the foreground to the left. This work is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame. Colours are less saturated and less yellow in reality than in the printed catalogue.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris from 1881-85, Muenier subsequently left the French capital in favour of the Haute-Saône département in Franche-Comté. While regularly exhibiting at the Paris Salon from 1887 onwards, and winning numerous accolades including a gold medal at the 1900 Exposition universelle, Muenier based himself in the region in and around the village of Coulevon for the rest of his career. Together with the older artists Gustave Courtois and Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (with whom he travelled to Algeria in later 1885), Muenier was closely associated with the painting of the region in the Naturalist, photographic style of which Le Repos des Moissonneurs is a prime example. Likely inspired by Jules Bastien-Lepage's Les Foins of 1877 (Musée d'Orsay), with its luminous palette and energetic painterly execution the present work also bears comparison to the harmonious rural scenes of Léon Lhermitte.