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Barbaroux, Louise, artist.

[Schoolgirl still life drawing of fruit compote.]

Louisville, Kentucky, May 1857. Graphite on bristol board, 18.125” x 14.5”, drawing 12” x 10”. Artist inscription in ink just below image: “Louise Barbaroux Pinxit. Louisville, Ky, May 1857.” CONDITION: Very good, a few marginal losses and tears with now effect to image, moderate dampstaining; minor rubbing and discoloration to verso.

An unusual and very pleasing graphite drawing of a fruit compote, probably executed by a schoolgirl in Louisville, Kentucky, just a few years before the Civil War.

Resting on a rectangular base, the scallop-rimmed compote in this drawing holds pears, peaches, what appears to be a small melon, and a bunch of grapes, all nestled among several clipped grape vines with finely serrated leaves and delicately curling tendrils. The whole is richly and meticulously shaded, and two faint water droplets on the leaves give an impression of freshness.

By the 1850s, Louisville had a robust array of schools, both private and public (the common school system was established by the legislature in 1838), and numerous institutes and seminaries for girls appear in newspaper ads, including Mrs. Eliza Field’s School for Young Ladies, the Louisville Female Institute, the Grace Church Female School, the Walnut Hill Female Institute, Miss Price & Mrs. Wood’s Seminary, and so on. Many ads list teachers and courses of drawing and painting, among other “branches usually taught in the best Female Schools of our country” (“Presbyterian”).

The artist Louise Barbaroux may have been related to the important Barbaroux clan of Kentucky, members of which died by the guillotine, emigrated from France during the revolution, associated with Henry Clay, and founded one of the largest iron firms in the South.

REFERENCES: “Presbyterian Female School,” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), July 23, 1857.

Item #9038

Price: $950.00

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