Ancient Painting Oil School of Barbizon Mountain 19th Century Levigne Godchaux

  
Hello, I am selling this painting which is 65 cm tall and 55 cm wide. It is a superb oil on canvas, signed in the lower left "Mosny" for Henry Mosny, a French painter active during the second half of the 19th century. A quick internet search on this artist will reveal other works of his, all sharing a striking resemblance with compositions by two other painters from the same era, Alfred Godchaux and Théodore Levigne.

The latter is known for having used pseudonyms to avoid being tied to just one art dealer. In this context, it is worth noting that Levigne's signature shares similarities, in the shape of its letters, with Mosny's; if we take this reasoning further, Mosny could be one of Levigne's pseudonyms. This remains a hypothesis, but it is quite plausible and therefore deserves consideration.

The painting in question depicts a mountain landscape through which a torrent flows, an embodiment of movements beautifully rendered thanks to the many relief effects scattered across its surface; these reliefs are also applied to various spots in the composition to dress the rocks, vegetation, and clouds, some of which are low-lying, in a scene likely set in the early morning while the sky is just beginning to show hints of blue, muted like a milky veil elsewhere.

Three figures already tread the ground of this valley, contributing to the perspective contained within the work, which the painter has also enhanced with mist effects enveloping the mountains here and there, delicately and almost sensually sculpted.

The composition, despite some wear on the canvas here and there, is very discreet, even invisible when viewed from at least two meters away, which is anyway a minimum recommended distance for this large work, and a few traces of passage across the composition, which has few cracks, is in good overall condition since it has undergone restoration by my care: - removal of the old varnish - holes and chips repaired with putty, with a "patch" glued on the back to reinforce the restoration of the larger area - an old restoration, very poor, corresponding to where a beige patch was glued, completely redone - wear on the canvas diminished - application of a new varnish giving soft satin reflections depending on the light and viewing angles.

You will find some before-and-after results in the last photos. The tension of the canvas is perfect. The photos were taken under light wells created by my skylights, during a relatively sunny afternoon.

After numerous tests, I realized that the color rendering shown in the second photo, with my equipment, is the one that most faithfully reproduces what can be observed under conditions that most people might consider "normal," meaning a good compromise between sufficient light source and nuanced colors without excess.

The left part of the sky is less bright than in the second photo under the same conditions, integrating more harmoniously with the rest of the composition. Attention collectors, vintage item enthusiasts, curiosities, decorative objects, or simply those who admire their intrinsic beauty!

This is an excellent gift idea.

To ensure that this is taken into account, it is imperative that if the box is damaged, sufficiently (it is up to you to determine this upon inspection), at any point, and/or opened, even partially, you ask the delivery person to indicate reservations if it is a shipment via the Post, or that you refuse the package at the point of sale if it is a shipment to a pickup point, UNLESS, you will need to request this from them, you have the option to note reservations with the scanning device for shipping receipts—then you may receive the package—before they scan the shipping receipt or perform any other operation confirming that you have indeed retrieved the package; in other words, ask to thoroughly check the condition of the box, not omitting any spot, in both scenarios before they act.

Regarding delivery at a pickup point, if your refusal to accept is expressed, the package will be kept by the pickup point to be returned to the service for verification to indicate the responsibility of the delivery personnel and to activate insurance (information gathered from their site) in case the item is damaged.

Regarding the Post, if delivery occurs in your mailbox because the package dimensions allow it, thus without handing it over in person, and the box is sufficiently damaged (a nuance that it is up to you to determine), you will need to return it to the nearest postal point without opening it, asking the counter staff to return the package to me (information collected from their site), also in anticipation of a delivery service verification, UNLESS, as in the case of a delivery to a pickup point, the postal office staff can indicate reservations.

In all cases, do not hesitate to take photos of the damaged and/or opened box. You may think, for any reason, that the item inside the box remains in perfect condition despite the damaged box, sufficiently (it is up to you to determine upon inspection), and/or opened, even partially, and therefore you do not request to make reservations, or that you accept the package if making reservations is not possible; but know that this amounts to playing Russian roulette since delivery services count on human error, which incidentally suits them well because, I repeat, the insurance is no longer effective due to the sacred transfer of responsibility from the delivery person to the sender or recipient; thus, fewer expenses for them since they will not have to pay the insurance amount! And do not count on "shaking" the package to determine if the item is broken; unless it is glass or ceramic, the sound of breakage is imperceptible, or it could be a protective element inside the package.

Be sure to communicate all these details in case it is a third party picking up the package on your behalf. If, however, the condition of the returned item differs from the one it was in at the time I sent it, but no evidence allows determining that the delivery personnel are responsible, then there will be no refund, for the reason that even with excellent packaging it can happen that not only the shocks during transport are extremely significant but also that this occurs without external damage, meaning on the box. Things that might not have happened during the initial shipment, and which could have been avoided if the buyer had retrieved the package and thus prevented a second transport, theoretically involving twice the risks for the item. A hand delivery is quite possible if you make the trip.

If you have any questions or would like more photos, please feel free to let me know.: I have other paintings on my profile.