Frédéric PEYSON (1807-1877) Bound notebook... Lot 45

Frédéric PEYSON (1807-1877) Bound notebook containing about fifty graphite drawings on forty-three pages. It includes studies of women, troubadour-style scenes, beggars, small trades, scenes of theater balconies, zouaves and military scenes (probably from the Italian Risorgimento). Most monogrammed, some titled or located at the bottom of the page: "Amélie les bains" (2); "Pyrénées orientales" (2); "Un mendiant à Grasse (Var)"; "Un gamin de Paris"; "Laitière de Nice - paysanne de Nice"; "Bouquetière de Nice"; "Arrivée de Garibaldi en Sicile". Dim. of the leaves : Height. 18,5 - Width : 13,5 cm (rare freckles, wear of the binding and the back of the notebook) Provenance : Laure Boyer, niece of the painter, by descent. Frédéric Peyson was born in March 1807 on rue de la Vieille in Montpellier. Following an accident during his early childhood, he lost his hearing and speech. His parents sent him to the institution for the deaf and dumb in Paris, an establishment founded by Charles Michel, Abbé de l'épée, who developed a teaching method based on sign language. Already inclined to drawing, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and passed through the studios of Antoine-Jean Gros, Louis Hersent, Léon Cogniet and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. While Peyson competed for the Prix de Rome in the category of "Historical Painting", he exhibited portraits, genre scenes and "troubadour" subjects at the Salon, sometimes signing them "Peyson, sourd-muet" (or more simply "s-m"). Similar to a graphic reportage, our sketchbook reveals his taste for popular subjects. He sketches wherever he goes, in the Pyrénées Orientales (p. 4 to 7 of lot 53), quarry workers (p.5), the beautiful Arles women (p.2,31 and 33), in Nice the milkmaid and the little flower girl (p.16 to 18). In a remarkable quality of execution, Peyson also draws military scenes related to the Italian unification. He seems captivated by the figure of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the "Hero of the Two Worlds" born in Nice the same year as him ("The arrival of Garibaldi in Sicily" p. 28). Frédéric Peyson kept his main residence in Paris, very inspired by the Grands Boulevards movement (Gamin de Paris p.13, Balcon de théâtre p.36 and 37). Nevertheless, all his life he remained linked to his native city. He regularly went there to see his sister and his nieces Boyer, to whom he was very close (lots 46 and 47). His attachment to Montpellier is manifested in his will as he bequeathed part of his fortune to charitable institutions, to the museum and to the École des Beaux-Arts of the city. The Fabre Museum holds several of his works, paintings and drawings, some given by the painter, others by Marie Boyer.