Lot 23: Alfred Guillou (French, 1844-1926) The lesson

Alfred Guillou (French, 1844-1926)
The lesson signed 'Alf-Guillou' (lower left)oil on canvas113.5 x 168cm (44 11/16 x 66 1/8in).

Alfred Guillou attended the Paris atelier of Alexandre Cabanel, where he met Jules Bastien-Lepage. He Exhibited: at the Paris Salon from 1868, many of his subjects being depictions of the fishing community of his native Concarneau. Guillou was instrumental in establishing the Concarneau Art Colony circa 1870, a community of artists with sympathies similar to that of the Newlyn colony established by Stanhope Forbes in the 1880s. The present lot, an unusual interior subject for the artist, is perhaps more reminiscent of another coastal community, the Hague School, and of the cottage interiors of Jozef Israels.