French Boy with Dog painting

My grandparents also had a print of this painting in their living room for decades (I'm guessing, not least because it reminded them of the many, many fair-haired children in our extended Norwegian-Canadian/American family). Interestingly, what appears to be the original, or a good large copy, came up for auction in December 2008:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6063195

Antiques, Collectibles, Coins & Currency
8:00 AM PT - Dec 13th, 2008
Leonard Auction, Inc.
6704 Pingree Rd.
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

Lot 20151
French Boy & Dog Portrait O/C sgn. Bremont (19c. F)

Signed C. Bremont lower left corner, middle to late 19th century, gilt frame circa 1940s, new stretchers during this time as well from the Creative Arts Gallery of Chicago

DIMENSIONS: Framed: 30 1/2 inches by 40 1/2 inches, Canvas: 26 inches by 36 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Very Good Condition, two pin holes on the boy's hat but no evidence of tears or repairs, moderate craquelure

ESTIMATE: $5,000-$7,000

Condition report
Very Good Condition, two pin holes on the boy's hat but no evidence of tears or repairs, moderate craquelure.

***

Still no clue who Bremont was - nothing in Grove or the usual English-lanaguage biographical dictionaries, nor any other image in the usual Web search engines, all of which is a bit curious for a work of this quality. I'm now curious enought to pursue this the next time I'm in a dedicated art history library; keep you posted.

Hi,

I've got the same painting. For a special assignment on school I have to restore a painting of my own choice. I found this same painting (except mine is in round shape) in the shed. I was quit surprised to find such a beautiful painting. Now, I have to find all kind of history of this painting. But I don't understand, on mine it says "A. W. Devis". Or Arthur William Devis as I found. But some other paintings are signed by C. Bremont. What is the actual artist that painted this beautiful thing? It seems a lot of people have this reproduction and it should be quit famous then. Can somebody please give me some answers?

Thank you.

Cheyenne.

I Have been reading all your post and I have both the french boy with dog and the girl with Cat, In very old framming. They def are a beautiful set... I seen an announamous comment on here who wanted both... I feel kinda excited because i havent seen anyone else with the girl yet... I am trying to find out the value of the set,at a right price i would def sell...  [email protected]

I have this painting too! I can tell you exactly who and what: It is by British painter Arthur Devis (not Davis) I know this as it is clearly marked on my vs with this name and title 'Good Companions'. From my research on the Internet I have gathered that it is also referred to as 'Master Simpson'. I am still yet to learn more about this as I am keen to know the value of this item. Did your mum learn more or have it valued since you posted your original comment. Some of the versions are quite valuable on E-Bay!

Hope I helped

Greetings from the UK

Amara

Good Companions

"Master Simpson" by A.W. Devis & "Chums" by Jane Freeman

The little girl print is "Chums" by Jane Freeman. Jane Freeman, 1871-1963, was famous as an illustrator and a portrait painter

The little boy picture which is not signed is a little more difficult to figure out. Here is what I've found so far: (right now I think #2 is the right answer)

1. Your painting originated in the Netherlands... not France, in the mid 1800's. (this may the reason you have had difficulty finding information about the artist, C. Bremont... who happens to be a woman.) This painting was originally one of a set. It's "Twin" was a painting of a young girl wearing a bonnet hung about her neck, standing in like position of the boy, with a beautiful cat at her feet. When hung together... the two children face each other.

Hope this helps a little

This picture is called "Master Simpson"

"French Boy with Dog painting." Definitely a boy and a dog, probably not French. Painting with provenance attributed to A.W. Devis; copy or copies perhaps by C. Bremont, or attributed to 'C. Bremont'?

I've been looking into this one intermittently for some years now, as I also have a lovely little print in a gilded frame which belonged to my grandmother (and doubtless reminded her of her own many fair-haired children and grandchildren). The Illustrated London News archive finally came up trumps, with coverage of the sale of the original painting at Christie's in 1936.

It was then firmly attributed to the English portrait and history painter Arthur William Devis (1762-1822), son (and nineteenth child!) of the English portrait painter Arthur Devis (1712-1787). He spent a decade in India (1784-1795), and the rest of his career in London. In his entry on A.W. Devis in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Stephen Whittle notes that: "He established a reputation as a painter of child portraits, many of which were engraved."

This painting sold at Christie's on 6 March 1936 for 3600 guineas (GBP 3780), a sensational price for the day, widely reported in the national press. (The invaluable https://www.measuringworth.com equates that to around GBP 600,000 today, relative to wages, or over one milliion pounds, relative to personal income or wealth.) It was purchased by Duveen Brothers, and appears in the catalogue of their records now available online through the Getty Research Institute.

The coverage of 1936 identified the sitter as "James Alexander Simpson when a boy" and "in after life solicitor to the Foundling Hospital from 1852 to 1860". That James Alexander Simpson was christened in Hackney in 1795; married one Anne Roupell in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, in 1821; and died in Montague Place, Russell Square, in 1860, leaving eight children and an estate of GBP 3000. There are regular references to his appearances as a solicitor in British newspapers from the 1820s onward. This seems a sounder attribution than the American painter James Alexander Simpson (1805-1880), who seems unlikely to have crossed the Atlantic to sit for an English painter in London during the last decade of the Napoleonic Wars.

The painting was shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum (now the V&A) in 1962, in the Third International Art Treasures Exhibition organised by the International Confederation of Art Dealers, when it was held by Leggatt Brothers (a venerable London-based firm founded in 1820, closed in 1992). Some sources claim that it then entered the Royal Collection, but was destroyed in the Windsor Castle fire of 1992; official reports of the time indicate that only one very large canvas was then lost, so this assertion is as yet unverifiable.

All this suggests that the popularity of the print may date from the sale and publicity of 1936, possibly also the exhibition of 1962. Henry Macbeth-Raeburn (1860-1947) produced a mezzotint in 1936, very much in the illustrative style of the period, which also shows up periodically on auction and art sites. A full-colour 'Presentation Plate', more closely resembling the original painting, was published in the 1936 Christmas number of the Illustrated London News, with the subtitle 'Good Companions'; a great many readers would likely have saved and framed that.

This leaves the mystery of "C. Bremont". Unattributed sources online identify this artist as a woman from the Netherlands, but the name does not appear in the catalogues of major collections in Belgium or the Netherlands. 'C. Bremont' is also notably associated with a copy of 'Chums', by the American artist Jane Freeman (1871-1963), which is sometimes pressented as a diptych or matched pair with 'Master Simpson'. Freeman's portrait of a girl holding a kitten so strikingly mirrors the boy and his dog that one might suspect direct inspiration; even the name 'Chums' reflects the title 'Good Companions', attributed to Devis' portrait in the popular press of 1936. This in turn suggests that Freeman may have been inspired by the publicity surrounding the sale of 'Master Simpson' in 1936, and 'C. Bremont' may have copied both portraits in a consistent style shortly thereafter. Just a thought.

I have a set but mine are in plastic frames.  I have a boy with  a puppy and i have a girl that matches.  I would also like to know what they are.  There is a boy for sell on Ebay and it has Italy written at the end of the photo.

My Family has one as well and now I am the legal caretaker/guardian/owner of our Family home of 103 years now and all the treasures inside. We actually have the original backing with the publication co stamp. Here's what is printed:

EDWARD GROSS CO., Inc.
118 EAST 16th STREET
NEW YORK

(Company Logo here)

Friends

By Devis

That's it. Your answer is "Friends" Look it up in Google. There is a lot of people trying to take credit long after the artist passed.

I have this same painting and my grandmother had it for a long time. I am 61 and she had it for many years before I was born. I am curious as to its value