Émile Munier

Émile Munier painted children and animals with tenderness and a highly polished finish: little girls with kittens, puppies and birds, in soft light and pale, clean colours. His style follows that of his teacher, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, whose smooth, idealised manner he greatly admired.

He was born and died in Paris. Alongside his pictures of children he painted peasant life, mythological and religious subjects, landscapes and seascapes, and his daughter often served as his model. His painting Trois Amis (1885), showing a girl with a kitten and a dog, was used by Pears’ Soap for advertising and became widely known. His work is in the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

In A Careful Stitch and Big Sister, look at the fine modelling of faces and hands and the small, affectionate details.