Paul Schaan (French, 19th-20th century) “Cardinals Playing Pool”, oil on wood panel. signed P. Schaan 1907. 18.75″ X 23.5″
Paul Schaan was born in Petrograd, Russia to French parents. He worked in Paris in the late nineteenth century.
Schaan painted interior and genre subjects. He was particularly fond of depicting cardinals in lavish surroundings. His canvases were painted with rich colors and a wealth of detail. Schaan’s treatment of this subject was similar to that of many other cardinal painters – Francois Brunery being perhaps the most well-known. The two artists often satirized the Lords of the Church and delighted in portraying them in humorous domestic dramas, in the privacy of their extravagant homes. Such portrayals showed that the clergy were subject to the same mundane trivialities of human existence as their humble flock. Indeed, this genre was very popular with the nineteenth century art collectors.
Schaan was a member of the Societe des Artistes Francais where he received an honorable mention in 1892.
Exhibited: Societe des Artistes Francais.
