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Charles BALAY
Saint-Etienne, 1861 - Lyon, 1943
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left “Balay”
56 x 46 cm (71 x 62 cm with frame)
Exhibition label at the 1938 Salon (on the back of the chassis)
Beautiful period frame
Charles Balaÿ was a student of Luc-Olivier Merson and Théobald Chartran and a member of the Society of French Artists where he obtained a silver medal in 1923 and a gold medal in 1928. He is known for his interior views with great attention to detail that almost reaches the point of trompe-l'oeil.
In 1938, he exhibited on May 11, 1839 at the Palais des Champs Elysées an “Interior” (number 58) which is our painting (exhibition label on the back of the stretcher).
In this painting we find the painter's science in the very realistic, almost illusionistic rendering of his interiors. There's even a mise en abyme here with a depiction of a painting within a painting!
Ref: AQX1JO7DVP