Old Painting, Oil on Canvas, French Barbizon School, Gilded Wood Frame, 19th Century

  

Hello, I am selling this painting, which measures 33 cm wide by 22 cm high, or 47 cm by 35 cm including the frame. It is a superb oil on wood, signed at the bottom right E. In my opinion, it dates from the late 19th to the early 20th century. It depicts an autumn landscape dominated, both by their size and by their central position, by two large dead trees, singular silhouettes that seem animated by a multitude of disjointed limbs. There is something deeply authentic and charming at the same time about these two presences: charming in the artist’s way of giving them such prominence; authentic, deeply so.

Have we not ourselves, during our endless walks in the countryside, under the sad glow of the sky, yet a glow nonetheless, with the horizon, beautiful and monotonous, dotted with a few buildings, treading on leaves of copper and gold, come across such presences and sometimes paused, as if surprised, to better sense a hidden meaning and find their intrinsic beauty? This painter, too, is a wanderer; this painting, too, has a soul. The many traces of wear here and there, in the form of small scratches, minor losses, small stains, tiny cracks in the wood, small holes (some resembling wormholes, but in my opinion they have been treated, as I have owned the painting for several years and it has never changed), all of which are of no significance individually, create an appearance such that, and it is rare enough to be worth mentioning, it can be described as a remarkable patina, that is, a harmonious appearance in which no blemish of any kind truly catches the eye and which stands as a highly authentic testimony to the work’s passage through time.

This whole surface has been protected by a light varnish, which creates the reflections visible depending on the viewing angle. The frame, forming a harmonious whole with the work, also has a very interesting patina in its gilding, blending perfectly with the painting’s own patina.

Despite a few small losses of stucco and some signs of wear here and there, it is in generally good condition. The photos were taken on a sunny afternoon in a very well-lit room. The second one is the most faithful to the actual color rendering under these conditions. Please note, however, that computer or mobile phone screens other than mine, depending on their display settings, may alter the result to a greater or lesser extent. With these elements in mind, you may nevertheless consider these two photos to be sufficiently representative of reality, once again under viewing conditions similar to those described above. Hand delivery is entirely possible if you come to collect it. For this to be taken into account, it is imperative that if the box is damaged, sufficiently so (it is up to you to determine this upon inspection) in any place and/or opened, even partially, you ask the delivery person to note reservations if it is a shipment via La Poste, or that you refuse the parcel at the relay point staff if it is a relay-point shipment, EXCEPT if, and you must ask them this, you are able to note reservations using the shipment label scanning device, in which case you may then accept the parcel, before they scan the shipping label or perform any other operation confirming that you have collected the parcel; in other words, ask them to carefully check the condition of the box, without omitting any area, in both cases before they proceed. In the case of delivery to a relay point, if you refuse receipt, the parcel will be kept by the relay point in order to be returned to the inspection service, so that a verification can be carried out to establish the responsibility of the delivery personnel and make the insurance effective (information gathered from their website) if the item is damaged. As for La Poste, if delivery is made to your mailbox because the parcel’s dimensions allow it, without hand delivery, and the box is sufficiently damaged (a distinction you must determine), you will have to take it to the nearest post office without opening it, asking the counter staff to return the parcel to me (information gathered from their website), again in anticipation of a review by the delivery service, EXCEPT if, as in the case of delivery to a relay point, the post office staff can note reservations. In all cases, do not hesitate to take photos of the damaged and/or opened box.

You may think, for any reason, that the item inside the box remains in perfect condition despite the parcel being sufficiently damaged and/or opened, even partially, and therefore that you do not need to make reservations, or that you should accept the parcel if making reservations is not possible; but be aware that this is like playing Russian roulette, since delivery services rely on the possibility of error, which, incidentally, suits them very well because, I repeat, the insurance is then no longer effective due to damage, because of the sacred transfer of responsibility from the carrier to the sender or recipient; less expense for them, then, since they will not have to pay the insurance amount! And do not rely on “shaking” the parcel to determine whether the item is broken; unless it is glass or ceramic, the sound of breakage is imperceptible, or it may simply be a protective element inside the package. Make sure to communicate all of this if a third party is collecting the parcel on your behalf.

If, however, the condition of the returned item differs from the condition it was in when I sent it, but no proof allows the delivery personnel to be held responsible, then there will be no refund, because even with excellent packaging it can happen that impacts during transport are extremely severe and yet cause no external damage, meaning none to the box. These are things that may not have happened during the original shipment, and that might have been avoided if the buyer had collected the parcel and thus prevented a second transport, theoretically involving twice the risk for the item.

If you have any questions or would like more photos, please feel free to let me know. PS: I have other paintings on my profile.