Ludovic ALLEAUME (Angers, 1859 - Paris, 1941) Chrysanthemum perfumes Oil on canvas Signed 'Ludovic Alleaume' lower right No frame Chrysanthemum fragrances, oil on canvas, signed, by L. Alleaume 45.67 x 35.43 in. 116.0 x 90.0 cm Provenance: Gérard Lévy Collection ; Then by descent Exhibitions: Salon d'Hiver, Association Syndicale Professionnelle de Peintres et Sculpteurs français, 7th exhibition, Paris, Grand-Palais, 1 - 28 February 1907, cat. no. 12: "Chrysanthèmes" [label on reverse]. After training in Angers with the painter Eugène Brunclair, Ludovic Alleaume went on to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was admitted to the studios of Ernest Hébert and Luc-Olivier Merson. Initially working as a portrait painter, he made his debut in 1883 at the Salon des Artistes français. Exhibited at the 1907 Salon d'Hiver, our large oil on canvas depicts a weeping young girl, covered only in black gauze, kneeling amid bouquets of chrysanthemums, flowers traditionally associated with mourning. To illustrate his symbolist point more explicitly, Alleaume accompanied his work in the exhibition booklet with a poignant poem entitled Souvenir : "Escape from the trembling hands that sow you, Weeping petals, flowers with pale hearts Whose coppery reflections have the range of golds, Ochres, chromes - and flesh too: The supreme prayer of the Woman who loves. Let your acrid scent, O Flower, O Chrysanthemum, Perfume the sleeping cloud with incense, A tear of mourning for those who have died! Ludovic ALLEAUME (Angers, 1859 - Paris, 1941) 116.0 x 90.0 cm After training in Angers with the painter Eugène Brunclair, Ludovic Alleaume went on to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was admitted to the studios of Ernest Hébert and Luc-Olivier Merson. Initially working as a portrait painter, he made his debut in 1883 at the Salon des Artistes français. Exhibited at the 1907 Salon d'Hiver, our large oil on canvas depicts a weeping young girl, covered only in black gauze, kneeling amid bouquets of chrysanthemums, flowers traditionally associated with mourning. To illustrate his symbolist point more explicitly, Alleaume accompanied his work in the exhibition booklet with a poignant poem entitled Souvenir : "Escape from the trembling hands that sow you, Weeping petals, flowers with pale hearts Whose coppery reflections have the range of golds, Ochres, chromes - and flesh too: The supreme prayer of the Woman who loves. May your acrid scent, O Flower, O Chrysanthemum, Perfume the sleeping cloud with incense, A tear of mourning for those who have died!"