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Jean-François Raffaëlli ¹ R. Miles, ‘’L’exposition Raffaelli,’’ in Le Mémorial diplomatique:
journal international, politique, littéraire et financier, January 5,
THE DOG SELLER (LE MARCHAND DE CHIENS) 1884, p. 204.
² Miles, p. 204.
³ p. 204.
« Tout cela est réel; tout cela est vrai; tout cela est rendu avec
infiniment d’art. »¹ ⁴ Quoted in Gabriel Mourey, “The Work of Jean-François Raffäelli,”
The Studio, vol. 23, no. 99, June 1901, p. 8.
⁵ Delia Austrian, “Raffäelli, A French Painter of the People,” in
Raffaëlli was lauded by his contemporaries for his keen ability
to capture peoples’ souls in his paintings – namely, the humble The Craftsman, vol. 22, no. 3, June 1, 1912, p. 253.
peasants and street merchants of the Parisian banlieue.² When
reviewing l’Exposition Raffaëlli in 1884, R. Miles highlighted
Raffaëlli’s capability to bestow nobility onto his impoverished
subjects.³ Raffaëlli upheld a distinct philosophy that he expressed
through his depictions of French suburban life: “[T]here is no beauty
in Nature; beauty resides in character.”⁴ It was Raffaëlli’s ability to
capture the essence of his subjects that makes his paintings so vivid.

In Le marchand de chiens, the dog seller is simultaneously in solitude
and surrounded by companions. In the background, people are
strolling through the Paris fortifications, or fortififs – large spaces
often painted by Raffaëlli. Void of people around him, the emphasis
is placed on the relationship between the seller and his dogs. He
could not afford to keep the puppies and was forced to sell them.
The two hounds in front of the seller stay close to their owner,
each looking in the opposite direction to protect him. The hands
of the dog seller figure prominently in the scene, firmly supporting
the puppies for sale. Such an embrace furthers the seller’s close
relationship to his sole companions. The solitary nature of this
scene, a quintessential example of Jean-François Raffaëlli’s take on
the Paris suburb, artfully depicts the banlieusards’ reality – a lonely
life in between the city and the country.⁵

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