A lawyer walks up a wind-blown street, presumably in the artist’s native town of Senlis in north-central France. Although he specialized in allegorical paintings, such as "Daydreams," Couture urged his pupils to select subjects drawn from contemporary life. In this scene, the choice of subject and the spontaneity of treatment recall the works of Honoré Daumier (1809–79). The painting also demonstrates the artist’s use of exposed areas of white, primed canvas to lend texture and immediacy to his technique.
Henry Walters, Baltimore, after 1909 [mode of acquisition unknown], [The picture was formerly erroneously listed as coming from the Barbedienne Collection sold in Paris, 1892. No record of the painting appears in the catalogues of William and Henry Walters published as late as 1909]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
peinture, france, huile sur toile (38,46), Baltimore, Walters Art Museum
Thomas Couture (French, 1815-1879). 'Lawyer Going to Court,' ca. 1860. oil on canvas. Walters Art Museum (37.1204): Acquired by Henry Walters.
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