A lovely still life painting of wild flowers in a vase by Eugene-Henri Cauchois. A large arrangement of wild summer flowers is shown filling a blue vase. Poppies, daisies, cornflowers and buttercups are depicted amongst green foliage. A scattering of fallen petals are also shown at the base of the vase reminding us of the fleeting nature of beauty.

Eugène-Henri Cauchois was a still life painter who was born in Rouen, Normandy on 14 February 1850 to Jean Baptiste Eugene Cauchois and Terese Bloquel. He initially studied at the Rouen School of Fine Art where he was a pupil of Gustave Morin. He moved to Paris to continue his education, studying under Ferdinand Duboc (1813-1869) and Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889) at the École des Beaux-Arts. He began exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1874 and continued to exhibit there regularly with mainly still life works throughout his life.

He married Louise Eugenie Ladeveze in Paris on 20 June, 1876. The couple had 3 children and lived at 79, Bouleveard de Courcelles. He also had an artist’s studio at 32 rue des Dames. Apart from a brief period spent in Brussels from 1878 to 1882, he spent most of his adult life in Paris. He won a number of awards at the Salon during his lifetime including Medal of Honour in 1891, third place medal in 1898, a bronze medal in 1900, and a 2nd place medal in 1904. In 1906, Cauchois was granted awarded ‘hors concours’ status by the Paris Salon. He was also a member of the Société des Artistes Français.

During the 1890’s he received several commissions to paint large scale works including four panels for the School of the 7th district in Paris. In 1910, he was awarded the Bouctot prize by the Belles-Lettres et Arts de Rouen. He died on 8 October, 1911 in Paris.

Cauchois specialised in colourful still life paintings of flowers and much of his work is painted with a loose and fluid brush stroke similar to the great impressionists of his time. He signed most of his paintings with ‘H. Cauchois’. A number of his works can be found in Art Galleries and Museums including Rouen Museum, Louviers Museum & Perpignon Museum, France and the Leuven Museum, Belgium.

© Benton Fine Art