Jules Francois Ballavoine

French fl.1880-1901

Jules Frederic Ballavoine was a Parisian painter of genre, historical paintings as well as a painter of portraits. He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon and was a medal winner.

Ballavoine’s greatest delight was his figures in all their various vocations. It is impossible to disagree, as one looks through his works drawn at every angle and capturing every gesture, that Ballavoine’s heart lay here in what Nye described as “the poetry of life”.

It is rare to see Ballavoine take on such a sentimental approach to a subject. Almost certainly they are both family members, with his beautiful daughter cradling their cat in her arms. He certainly looks as if he has been through the wars with a coat reflecting his tomcat antics. There is no doubting though that when he comes home his role is to be pampered and loved for the ‘ruffty, tuffty’ he is.