Pauline VALLÉE (XIX e- ?), Composition With Chinoiserie And Japonisme,

Oil on canvas. 61 x 50 cm. Signed and dated lower right.

Possibly exhibited at the Art Salon of Tours organized by the Société des Amis des Arts de la Touraine in July 1889. She exhibited in the salons of Paris, Lyon, Rouen...

We know little about the life of this artist, apart from the fragmentary information compiled in Salon booklets.

Mademoiselle Pauline Vallée was born in Lyon and was a student of Marc Bruyas (1821-1896), a Lyon master of floral composition canvases, and Blaise Desgoffe (1830-1901), a virtuoso of still life inspired by the Dutch masters of the 17th century.

This work by Pauline Vallée is characteristic of Japonism, which began to influence France as early as the mid-19th century. The opening of Japan in 1853, as well as its participation in the 1878 Universal Exhibition, allowed Japanese art to enter the Western world—first within small circles of collectors and artists, and later among the general public through the world’s fairs.