Paul Desire Trouillebert (French, 1829 to 1900)
Following a standard academy training, Trouillebert began exhibiting in 1865 in the Paris Salon, where his painting of a “Bather” received much attention in 1882. Rather than pursuing what had promised to be a successful personal style, however, he increasingly (as in this painting) turned to the production of masterfully rendered variations on the late works of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 to 1875).
One such canvas was eventually sold as an original by Corot to the famous author Alexandre Dumas, who took his picture dealer to court; the resulting publicity attracted still further patronage to Trouillebert, who produced such profitable variations, in a highly pleasing and appealing style, through the remainder of his career. Reference: E. Benezit, Dictionnaire (Paris, 1948-1955), vol. 10, pp. 284-285.
Information courtesy of Neal Auction Company, December 2007