Falling Leaves, Allegory of Autumn. Artist: Hugues Merle (French, Saint-Marcellin 1823-1881 Paris). Dimensions: 68 7/8 x 43 1/4 in. (174.9 x 109.9 cm). Date: 1872.Merle, a friend and sometime rival of Bouguereau, was known for the sentimental images of contented rustic families that he regularly exhibited at the annual Salons. In this painting from 1872, Merle tried his hand at a loosely mythological scene of a languid young woman in the guise of Fall. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe bought the melancholic picture from the New York branch of the art gallery Goupil & Co. on February 21, 1873, while still in mourning for her father. A critic who saw the work in Wolfe's home remarked, "Here, under russet foliage, a ripe beauty passes.... Nearby, disguised so much in shadow as to be almost invisible, little Love is running away; for this bereavement of affection is the plague of life's Autumn, as love's importunity is the plague of its Spring.". Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.