Frank Charles Peyraud
(French-Swiss/American, 1858-1948)
Rural Landscape
oil on canvas
signed lower right
25 1/8" x 30 1/4"

Provenance:
Hanzel Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 26 October 1976
The Ira Simon Collection, Chicago, Illinois

Catalog Note:
Frank Charles Peyraud grew up in the town of Bulle, a French-speaking area of Switzerland. With a desire to pursue art from an early age, his parents encouraged him to embark upon a more practical career in architecture. He trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris before traveling to the United States in 1881. When applying for architecture jobs there, he was rejected because of his inability to speak English well. However, he was soon able to find work painting cycloramas and panoramas, during the height of their popularity.

In the mid 1880s, Peyraud began to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. By the end of the decade, he was a well-known landscape painter in the rapidly growing Chicago art scene. He won the Young Fortnightly prize for the best painting in the Art Institute's 1899 annual Chicago Artist's show, the first of many accolades during his career.

Frame: 29 1/2"h x 34 3/8"w x 1 1/4"d
Light surface dirt. A few minor spots of accretion. Canvas is gathered at upper corners. Good condition.