Large painting depicting a fisherman. Henry Bidauld, born in 1839 in Sainte Colombe de Bois (Nievre) and died in 1898 in Rossillon, was a painter and illustrator. Henri Bidauld was the nephew of the painter Jean-Pierre-Xavier Bidauld (1745-1813) and the great-nephew of the neoclassical painter Jean Joseph Xavier Bidauld (1758-1846). Henri Bidauld's aunt, Rosalie Bidault, known as Zélie (1798-1876), was also a painter. After a childhood in Neuville sur Ain, he moved to Paris where he perfected his painting with Louis Francais and sculpture. He continued his training with a two-year stay in Rome, then returned to Paris. Following in the footsteps of his father-in-law, Henri Bidauld managed to turn Rossillon into a village of painters where many artists came to work in the surrounding area. A literary community also met there with writers and poets, including Joséphin Soulary. In 1870, he was elected to the municipal council of Rossillon and became mayor in 1884. He remained so until his death in 1898. Henri Bidauld made his debut at the Lyon Salon in 1864 and exhibited there regularly until 1897. In 1872, he exhibited at the Paris Salon and was awarded for his painting The Sacred Wood in La Burbanche, purchased by the State and donated two years later to the municipal museum of La Roche Sur Yon. He exhibited in Paris until 1893. He painted landscapes, in the Loire and then mainly in the Bugey (Ain) around Rossillon, genre scenes that testify to the rural life of the region, with acute realism influenced by Jean Francois Millet and later by his friend Jules Breton. There are very few portraits painted by Henri Bidauld, with the exception of some studies and drawings. In 1883 he illustrated Charles Guillon's book, Les Chansons populaires de l'Ain, with a preface by Gabriel Vicaire, with other artists such as Charles Beauverie. His traditional and landscape style initially evolved timidly towards impressionism in 1880. His works are kept at the town halls of Belley and Carpentrans, in Bourg en Bresse at the Brou museum, the municipal museum of La Roche sur Yon, the departmental museum of Burgey Valromey and the museums of Dijon and Lyon. Canvas size only 169 x 126, with frame 177 x 132.5 cm
