A wonderful genre painting by Charles Bertrand D’Entraygues of a photographer taking a photograph near a group of children. A man is depicted standing next to a camera on a tripod timing the exposure on a pocket watch as two women look on. Meanwhile, a number of children have gathered around the camera to watch the proceedings. Whilst most of the figures appear engrossed in what is going on, a few of the children seem to have grown bored of waiting. In the same year that he produced this painting, the artist also painted a similarly themed work entitled ‘Watch the Birdie’ using some of the same models as seen here.

Charles Bertrand d'Entraygues was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde in south west France on July 14, 1850. After leaving school, he left his home in Brive to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse. In 1871, he travelled to Paris to enrol at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he studied under Isidore Pils (1815-1875), who influenced his work.

In 1875, he married Caroline Marie Joséphine Noémie Monnet with whom he had four children and the couple settled in the artistic community at Ecouen, located 18km north of Paris. They lived at 29 rue d'Ezanville and later moved to 5 rue de l'Union. In 1876, he made his debut at the Paris Salon with ‘L’embarras du choix’. He continued to exhibit at the Salon throughout his life and his work was highly popular, receiving an honourable mention at the Salon in 1899.

By the 1880’s he had established himself as a genre painter of scenes featuring children, often anecdotal with a humorous touch. Many of the children in his works appear to be based on the same models, most likely members of his family. His paintings and amusing subject matter earned him considerable success throughout his life. One of his paintings, ‘La Fin de journée’ was exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was later included in the 1894 edition of Famous Paintings of the World.

In 1904, he became a member of the Société des Artistes Français and in 1906 he moved to Vernon in Normandy. After the death of his wife in 1920 he made his final move to Biot in the Alpes-Maritimes region, not far from Cannes. D’Entraygues died at Biot on 11 February, 1929. An example of his work can be found at the Musée d’Orsay. A photograph of him working in his studio at Ecouen C1890 is held by the Paris Museum.

© Benton Fine Art