French school of the 19th century

French school of the 19th century.
Following models of Ernest Meissonier (1815 - 1891).
"The reading of the letter" and "Chess players".
Pair of oils on canvas.
Measurements: 32 x 27 cm; 60 x 52 cm (frame).

Meissonier was born in Lyon in 1815 and moved to Paris at a young age, where success in his father's business provided Meissonier with material ease for the rest of his life. With his father's support he began his formal studies in drawing with Jules Potier. From his beginnings it can be traced that in 1831, at the age of 16, he exhibited the painting Les Bourgeois Flamands, which was later acquired by Sir Richard Wallace. He specialized in military-themed history painting and is famous for his depictions of Napoleon, his armies and military subjects. He documented sieges and maneuvers and was the teacher of Jean Baptiste Édouard Detaille. Meissonier enjoyed great fame during his lifetime and was acclaimed for the artistry and detail of his painting. The English art critic John Ruskin closely analyzed his creations and marveled at Meissonier's skill and eye for capturing fascinating minutiae. It was from 1840 that his works became increasingly valued among the new bourgeoisie and aristocracy of the time. Under Chenavard's influence, he achieved great success with exhibitions of Chess Game (1841), The Young Man Playing the Cello (1842), The Painter in His Studio (1843), The Guard Room, The Young Man Looking at Paintings, A Game of Piquet (1845), and The Bowl Game. He illustrated the works of Honoré de Balzac. He was a painter of academic style, famous for his genre, military and portrait subjects, treated with a rapid and precise brushstroke at the same time. He is buried in Poissy, the city where he lived from 1846 and of which he was mayor. A portrait of him, The Marchioness of Manzanedo, is in the Prado Museum in Madrid. In 1847 Queen Victoria bought the painting Les Trois Amis (The Village Politicians) as a gift for Prince Albert. In the 1850s he reached the peak of his career when his The Players and the Fight (La Rixe) was presented to the English court by Napoleon III in 1855, and for the 1857 Salon he exhibited nine paintings and drawings. 1 Napoleon III decided to include Meissonier on the imperial staff, where he served during the Italian campaign, and at the beginning of the war of 1870. During the siege of Paris in 1871 he was colonel of a marching regiment.