Lot 626: Eugene Lawrence Vail (American, 1857-1934)

Enfants et Leur Mere/Children with Their Mother
Signed and dated "Eugene Vail 1897" l.r., identified on the reverse.
Oil on canvas, 53 x 53 in. (134.6 x 134.6 cm), framed.
Condition: Repaired puncture, retouch, craquelure.

N.B. Raised in the United States, Vail spent much of his adult life in France and Italy. He studied with William Merritt Chase in New York, and then studied in Paris. The majority of his works are images of peasants and fishermen, done in the formal academic style. Late in his career, Vail's style became looser and more impressionistic, with a lighter palette. His numerous paintings of Venice exhibit this later style.