Contact gallery for price		Théophile Emmanuel Duverger French, 1821-1886 Dusting the Keys Signed lower right: Duverger Oil on panel 10 1/4 x 8 1/8 inches (26 x 21 cm) While little is known of Duverger’s life, he was a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon from 1846 until 1882. He painted portraits and genre works and Dusting the Keys is an excellent example. The subject is a young housemaid who has paused from her work. With a duster poised under her left arm, she caresses the keys of an upright piano with her right hand. A broom leans against the piano in the foreground, and a scrub brush lies on the floor at its side. The interior is simple, but rich: the bare wooden floor and dark walls give a sense of restraint while the beautifully turned legs of the piano and plush velvet of the chair give a clue to the wealth of the interior. The maid seems to be engrossed in a moment of distraction, imagining herself as the mistress of the house rather than a servant. Such humble interior scenes saw a dramatic rise in popularity at the middle of the 19th century with the rise of the Realist movement and the subsequent success of artists such as Isidore Pils and François Bonvin. Typical of the strain of Realism that flourished after the mid-1850s, this humble subject is painted to a high finish, with an acute attention to texture and detail. The girl’s flesh is painted in translucent, smooth tones and her silky, black hair and coarse garments are rendered with care. The result is a picture that is both simple and exquisite and evokes a humble serenity as well as a sense of longing.