David-Eugène Girin was born in Lyon, rue de Sève (1st district) December 23, 18481. Son of Michel Girin, weaver, he enrolled at the school of fine arts in Lyon October 5, 1864, December 2 1867, he entered the painting class of Joseph Guichard. He was then trained by Antoine Jean Bail and, in Paris, by the engraver Lehman.

His first exhibition took place in 1868. During the Franco-Prussian war, he was mobilized and went to fight in Belfort in 1870, alongside other artists such as painters Claudius Barriot, Aimé Perret or the sculptor Jacques Perrin. When he returned, he started painting again and exhibited mainly in Lyon.

For seventeen years, he directed mostly genre paintings, still life before changing the subject in 1887. ...