Lot 215: Pierre Toussaint Frédéric Mialhe (French, 1810-1868) Countryside scene, Cuba unframed

Countryside scene, Cuba
signed 'F Mialhe' (lower left)
oil on canvas
41 x 57cm (16 1/8 x 22 7/16in).
unframed

Frédéric Mialhe arrived in Cuba in 1838 under contract to the printers Real Sociedad Patriótica to record views of the island. Enamoured by the richness and exoticism that surrounded him, Mialhe remained in Cuba to produce further work; he also taught drawing at the Liceo Literario y Artístico in Havana. The artist returned to France in 1854.

Felipe Poey, the founder of the Museum of Natural History in Havana, often accompanied Mialhe on his painting excursions into the Cuban hinterland and remarked that: "Mialhe carried along a blank book and his admirable pencil, which, they say, drew by itself, though probably helped by Mialhe's fingers and thumb".

Mailhe is best knwon for his series of lithographs Isla de Cuba, Isla de Cuba Pintoresca and Viaje pintoresco por la Isla de Cuba. These magnificent albums of lithographs depicted daily life in Cuba and its capital in the mid-19th century.

A pencil study for the above work is extant with an indistinct inscription "Corral para via de ????".