Charles Giroux (French/Louisiana, 1928-1885), "Early Morning Fishing", oil on canvas, signed lower right, 12 1/4 in. x 20 1/2 in., framed with artist plaque, overall 19 3/4 in. x 27 7/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. Note: Charles Giroux's compositional style and color palette are considered unique among his contemporaries in Louisiana landscape painting. His works are distinguished by their romantic hues, smooth brushwork, luminous skies and powerful recession of composition. The special qualities of his canvases were recognized in an October 23, 1885 Daily Picayune article: "The work is remarkably well finished. The same careful study and painstaking care that characterizes all Mr. Giroux's works is apparent in every line and shadow." The same article noted the artist's fascination with creating landscapes with an extensive use of vanishing perspective. In the lot offered here, the contrasting areas of light and dark present a transcendental calm and serenity that bespeaks the genteel Southern life of the inhabitants of Giroux’s paintings. Recent conservation of the tranquil scene led to the exciting discovery of a previously overpainted figure fishing along the shoreline near the shade of the oak trees, adding further narrative to this charming panorama.