Small oil on canvas, mounted on wood

Alexandre René Véron (1826-1897)

Alexandre René Véron was a landscape painter of the XIXᵉ century, mainly associated with the Barbizon school.

Born in 1826, he trained in Paris before turning to plein-air painting, inspired by forests and the French countryside.
A pupil of Paul Delaroche and a follower of Daubigny, he exhibited at the Salon from 1848.

His works are characterized by a great sensitivity to atmospheric variations and a subtle treatment of light.
He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon, where he was well received by critics, who praised the accuracy of his compositions and the poetry of his landscapes.
Véron remained a representative of naturalist ideals, contributing to the valorization of rural landscapes at a time when modernity was transforming French society.

Here, the artist offers us a vision of Paris at twilight, in the spirit of the great Romantics. His light, agile brushwork recalls at times the delicacy of Victor Hugo's pen-and-ink drawings, with the same ability to suggest, beneath the apparent simplicity, a tragic dimension and a sense of infinity that permeate the composition.