Emile Renouf (French, 1845 - 1894): The Helping Hand. Offset lithograph, signed in plate. Printed by Donald Art Co. in 1998.

Emile Renouf was a French realist artist known for his depictions of landscapes and men at sea. Like his contemporary Gustave Courbet, Renouf's work often depicted the lives of working-class men in rural France, as seen in The Helping Hand (1881), a painting of a fisherman and a young girl rowing a fishing boat. Born on June 23, 1845, in Paris, France, Renouf studied at the Académie Julian in Paris under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. A regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon, Renouf gained notoriety among members of the French art community after receiving a gold medal the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Near the end of his life he traveled to Ile de Sein, and was inspired to paint Breton life. The artist died in 1894 in Le Havre, France. His works are currently held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Musee des beaux-arts de Quimper.

20 x 23 inches framed; 14 x 18 inches plate.

Private collection, Boston.