EUGÈNE-ERNEST HILLEMACHER (PARIS, 1818 – PARIS, 1887) Afternoon Stroll 1859 Oil on canvas 52 x 64.8 cm. Signed and dated lower left ‘Ernest Hillemacher’ Provenance Katherine Rudloff, St Louis, Missouri; J.S. Earle & Son, Philadelphia. On a beautiful summer’s afternoon, in a sun-drenched park, a merry group is enjoying themselves. At the front, two young boys run, pulling a small cart in which sits a cheerful baby. One blows a horn, whilst the other waves a makeshift whip. To the side, another little boy stands by the cart, waving a wooden spatula of his own. Finally, at the rear, a young woman, probably their mother, holds the hood of the little cart down to provide shade for the baby. In the background, still in the dappled shade of the woodland undergrowth, an older couple follow at a distance, presumably the grandparents. Rounding off the composition, in the foreground, a dog barks and turns round at the head of the procession. This idyllic scene, reflecting the joys of childhood in an elegantly attired bourgeois family, is set against an enchanting and well-tended natural backdrop where swans frolic on the park’s pond. The delicacy of the brushwork, combined with the light, vivid colours, serves to evoke a joyful atmosphere within a refined world, catering to the tastes of the bourgeoisie of the Second Empire, which Hillemacher excelled at satisfying. More than just a family portrait, this is a genre scene, highlighting the family values of an elite society. Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher (1818–1887) was a French painter specialising in portraits and historical painting. A pupil of Léon Coignet at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he began exhibiting at the Salon as early as 1840, thus launching a prolific career with works that met with great public acclaim. His success led to his paintings being reproduced using the new technique of heliogravure. His style, with its porcelain-like finish, links him to the academic movement, in which his colleagues Bouguereau and Cabanel also distinguished themselves. The historical subjects he depicted in the manner of genre scenes were characteristic of the nineteenth century, which sought to renew subject matter whilst remaining rooted in tradition. His paintings thus found an audience amongst the triumphant industrial bourgeoisie, eager for historicist art, in which anecdotes concerning famous figures from French history or literature fuelled the collective imagination. He thus depicted numerous events on the fringes of official history, imagining encounters between Louis XIV and Mignard, Philip IV and Velázquez, Molière and his maid, or even Boileau and his gardener … Acclaimed by critics, he was also honoured by the French state, which awarded him the Legion of Honour in 1865, thereby recognising his distinguished career.