Etienne ALLEGRAIN (Paris 1644 - 1736) Classical landscape with fishermen Canvas 117.5 x 168 cm Old restorations Provenance: Collection lilloise de 1880 à 2006, en pendant avec le n° 44 ; Anonymous sale, Lyon, Etude Chenu, Scrive et Béard, June 24, 2006, no. 9 (photo reproduced upside down in the catalog). We would like to thank Hugo Coulais for providing us with this information: "These two large paintings, conceived as pendants and separated at the 2006 sale in Lyon, are among Étienne Allegrain's most dynamic compositions. They are most likely the result of a large-scale commission, as the finesse of execution, the mastery of light and the attention to detail - rarely brought to such a degree of completion in his work - testify to a particularly accomplished work. Their format and the profusion of details seem to rule out their use as doorstops; rather, they could have been designed for an amateur's study, a space conducive to attentive contemplation, where the eye is guided through the meandering composition".