Adrien Moreau French, 1843-1906 La Demande en Mariage

An endearing Regency era genre painting by Adrien Moreau (French, 1843-1906) titled La Demande en Marriage, The Marriage Proposal. Moreau depicts the moments before a young man pops the big question to a young lady in a lush garden. The bride to be's parents await giddily in the background, knowing what is about to unfold. Details are rendered in tight, detailed, brush strokes, while the garden and countryside that lay beyond are achieved through large, soft, impressionistic strokes, creating a haze similar to sfumato. 

Signed Adrien Moreau (lr) in bottom right corner 

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 21 1/4 x 28 3/4 inches (54 x 73 cm)

Provenance: Eaton Gallery, London

Artist Bio: 

Adrien Moreau began his arts education an apprentice glassmaker, soon transitioning into the study of painting at the École des Beaux-Arts under Isidore Pils. His work was first exhibited in 1868 at the Paris Salon, where he showcased  Puis ce Prophète s’en alla et un lion le rencontra et le tua (Then Shall This Prophet Go and Encounter a Lion which will Kill Him), a religious subject which “placed him among the ranks of the greatest painters of contemporary genre” according to the journalist and art critic, Joseph Uzanne. (Figures Contemporains Tirée de l’Album Mariani, vol. 8, Paris: Libraire Henri Floury, 1903). Moreau earned many awards for his work, receiving silver medals in 1876, 1889 and 1900 as well as being awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1892.