This foggy river landscape with figures was executed by Pierre Étienne Alexandre Rapin , French landscape painter,, whose style is imbued with the landscapes of Franche-Comté,  the region where he was born. Having moved up to Paris, he frequented the studios of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Charles Gleyre and Joseph-Ferdinand Lancrenon, but it was above all Louis Français, with whom he became friends, who had an influence on him.

He began at the Salon from 1867 with two landscapes of the Doubs, and is mentioned as living at 25 rue du Cherche-Midi3. He obtained a bronze medal in 1875 then a silver medal in 1877 and passed out of competition. He exhibited at the Salon of French Artists, from 1881, as co-founder of the Society of French Artists. He participated in the two Universal Exhibitions in Paris (1878 and 1889). 

From the end of the 1860s, he was one of the painters who came to work alongside Gustave Courbet, as indicated by a letter from the latter to his friend Jules-Antoine Castagnary4. The two painters produced joint canvases, the first preparing them, the second retouching them and, possibly, signing them5.

In July 1884, he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

He participated in exhibitions at the Palace of Fontainebleau, organized by the Society of Friends of the Arts of Seine-et-Marne, in 1888 and 1889.

He died on November 21, 1889, while he was finishing a large cartoon for the Manufacture des Gobelins in his studio located at 52 rue de Bourgogne. He suffered from a heart condition.

Literature: "General Artist´s Lexicon " by Thieme/Becker, Leipzig, Benezit "Dict. d. Peintres etc.", Paris, 1999;  ADEC Register.

Inscription: signed lower right, on the back of the canvas is gift memory inscription of the artist's wife in French: Á Mle Claire Baille souvenir très affectueux ( in English: To Miss Claire Baille very fond memories. Marie Rapin). 

Technique: oil on canvas, gallery frame.

Measurements: unframed : w. 17 7/8" x h. 12 2/3" (45,5 x 32 cm); framed w. 22 7/8" x h. 17 1/3" (58 x 44 cm).

Condition: in very good condition..