Gustave Surand ART FOR SALE

This work, "Tigre de l'Annam" c. 1895, is a remarkable demonstration of Durand's skills. The tiger ? beautifully and realistically rendered ?  is spread out in a leafy bower. Durand successfully combines the exotic and bright colors of the Orientalist tradition of his training, with the soft, pastel colors in the peacock feathers, which are a direct influence of Japonisme. The resulting work exhibits both a powerful masculinity and a soft feminine quality. Signed 'GVE, SURAND' lower left, indistinctly inscribed on remnants of old exhibition labels on the reverse oil on canvas