Paul JOUVE (1880-1973 )Fafa, circa 1900Pastel on canvas. Signed lower left. Titled top right. 50 x 45 cmProvenance : Family of the artist. Bibliography: Felix Marcilhac, Paul Jouve. Vie et œuvre, Paris, Éditions de l'Amateur, 2005, reproduced in color p. 25. At a very young age, Jouve painted the domestic animals of the house, first his cat Fina, then his dogs. In 1898, he made many portraits of his Weimar hound, of which he also made a sculpture. A few years earlier, between 1875 and 1883, Degas painted a series of eight canvases of dogs, one of which closely resembles a small dog belonging to the family. One of Manet's paintings, A King Charles Spaniel (1866), is very similar in composition to the work shown here. No doubt inspired by the example of Manet or Degas, Jouve painted this portrait of Fafa. The advice of his father, who himself benefited from that of Edgar Degas and Puvis de Chavannes, excellent pastelists, will undoubtedly have been precious to him. This pastel, made around 1900, is the only pastel on canvas made by Jouve.