Charles Jules Nestor Bavoux 1824–1887

A French painter known primarily for his still lifes, his work is part of the French realist tradition, inheriting both academic painting and a freer sensibility characteristic of this period of transition.

Trained from 1846 at the Besançon School of Drawing, he then continued his apprenticeship in Paris, where he joined the studio of François-Édouard Picot. He regularly participated in the Salon, where he exhibited from 1857 to 1882.

The power of the painting lies in its depiction of the plate breaking, causing the grapes to fall. This moment, captured in real time, is particularly rare in still life painting and introduces a dimension of movement and tension that gives the scene its originality.