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Offered here is an exceptional and monumental late 19th-century oil-on-canvas painting depicting The Horse Fair, rendered by the hand of the artist Paul Powis and dated 1888. This striking work is a finely executed, academic period reproduction of Rosa Bonheur’s (1822–1899) crowning masterpiece, which debuted to global acclaim at the 1853 Paris Salon and now resides permanently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bonheur’s original painting shattered contemporary boundaries. To capture the raw power, motion, and anatomy of the Parisian horse market on the Boulevard de l'Hôpital, she famously obtained a cross-dressing permit from the police to sketch incognito among the handlers. Powis brilliantly captures that same thrumming energy, using a dramatic chiaroscuro that accentuates the powerful musculature of the central Percheron draft horses. The composition is arranged like a classical Greek frieze, directly nodding to the equine sculptures of the Parthenon.
Unlike anonymous workshop copies, this piece is fully signed and dated by Powis in the lower corner, establishing it as a highly collectible, authentic 19th-century artwork in its own right. Commissioned during the height of Bonheur's international fame, works of this caliber allowed prominent private collectors of the Gilded Age to bring the majesty of the Paris Salon into their personal estates.
The painting boasts a rich, stable paint layer with a beautifully aged patina, and comes housed in its magnificent, heavy gold-gilded ornate period frame. This spectacular piece serves as a commanding focal point, perfectly suited for an elegant library, grand entryway, or formal dining room.
Oil on Canvas, re-lined.
Artist: Paul Powis
Signed: Paul Powis, 1869 (lower right)
Size: 54.5” L X 36” H
C. 1869, France
Offered here is an exceptional and monumental late 19th-century oil-on-canvas painting depicting The Horse Fair, rendered by the hand of the artist Paul Powis and dated 1888. This striking work is a finely executed, academic period reproduction of Rosa Bonheur’s (1822–1899) crowning masterpiece, which debuted to global acclaim at the 1853 Paris Salon and now resides permanently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bonheur’s original painting shattered contemporary boundaries. To capture the raw power, motion, and anatomy of the Parisian horse market on the Boulevard de l'Hôpital, she famously obtained a cross-dressing permit from the police to sketch incognito among the handlers. Powis brilliantly captures that same thrumming energy, using a dramatic chiaroscuro that accentuates the powerful musculature of the central Percheron draft horses. The composition is arranged like a classical Greek frieze, directly nodding to the equine sculptures of the Parthenon.
Unlike anonymous workshop copies, this piece is fully signed and dated by Powis in the lower corner, establishing it as a highly collectible, authentic 19th-century artwork in its own right. Commissioned during the height of Bonheur's international fame, works of this caliber allowed prominent private collectors of the Gilded Age to bring the majesty of the Paris Salon into their personal estates.
The painting boasts a rich, stable paint layer with a beautifully aged patina, and comes housed in its magnificent, heavy gold-gilded ornate period frame. This spectacular piece serves as a commanding focal point, perfectly suited for an elegant library, grand entryway, or formal dining room.
Oil on Canvas, re-lined.
Artist: Paul Powis
Signed: Paul Powis, 1869 (lower right)
Size: 54.5” L X 36” H
C. 1869, France
