Art 1860-1880
1860 the artist of the lander expedition
2015 sold for $ 800k including premium
Albert Bierstadt, American of German origin, began his career as a landscape painter in Europe. Returned to America in 1858, he painted views of New England and Upper New York state.
The Wild West appeals to him. In 1859, he participates in the Lander expedition which was an official mission to improve the transcontinental trails in application of the Pacific Wagon Road Act issued by the Congress in 1857. Experienced and bold, Frederick W. Lander explores the area that will later become Wyoming, perhaps to pass round the Utah.
Bierstadt was dazzled by the beauty of the mountain range of the Winds, in the west of the territory. Like all the painters of his time, he established sketches during the journey and painted his compositions after coming back to his studio.
On September 19 in Jackson Hole, Jackson Hole Art Auction sells Wind River Country, oil on canvas 72 x 100 cm, lot 184 estimated $ 1M, here linked to the bidding platform LiveAuctioneers. Here is the link to the press release issued by the auction house.
This scenery is in the immediate following of the travel with Lander and was painted by Bierstadt circa 1860. The sunset in the pure sky over a grand landscape is influenced by the romantic paradises by the Hudson River school.
Bierstadt is a pioneer, anticipating Thomas Moran who will use the railroad to join the Hayden expedition in 1871. The extreme colors of Wyoming by Moran will be inspired by the style of Turner.
The Wild West appeals to him. In 1859, he participates in the Lander expedition which was an official mission to improve the transcontinental trails in application of the Pacific Wagon Road Act issued by the Congress in 1857. Experienced and bold, Frederick W. Lander explores the area that will later become Wyoming, perhaps to pass round the Utah.
Bierstadt was dazzled by the beauty of the mountain range of the Winds, in the west of the territory. Like all the painters of his time, he established sketches during the journey and painted his compositions after coming back to his studio.
On September 19 in Jackson Hole, Jackson Hole Art Auction sells Wind River Country, oil on canvas 72 x 100 cm, lot 184 estimated $ 1M, here linked to the bidding platform LiveAuctioneers. Here is the link to the press release issued by the auction house.
This scenery is in the immediate following of the travel with Lander and was painted by Bierstadt circa 1860. The sunset in the pure sky over a grand landscape is influenced by the romantic paradises by the Hudson River school.
Bierstadt is a pioneer, anticipating Thomas Moran who will use the railroad to join the Hayden expedition in 1871. The extreme colors of Wyoming by Moran will be inspired by the style of Turner.
1860 GUERNSEY'S POET
2010 SOLD 81 K€ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The sea is the symbol of freedom for the Romantic poets. Victor Hugo contemplates it, from the island of Guernsey which he has chosen for his political exile.
The poet is dreaming: it is his job. And he draws. Hugo was one of the most original drawing artists, known mainly for his fantastic castles. The precise outline of a medieval tower stands over the twilight in a wash of sepia, a color in fashion in his time.
Artcurial sells on March 24 in Paris a marine drawing by Victor Hugo, 10 x 27 cm, executed by the same technique around 1860. A three-masted ship enhanced by white gouache sails out of the fog.
Of course, the overwhelming reputation of Victor Hugo in literature is masking his work as a figurative artist on paper, between Turner and Seurat. The estimate, 30 K €, may be too low.
POST SALE COMMENT
Yes, the estimate was too low. This drawing takes its suitable place in the barometer of art at auction with a very good result, 81 K € including premium.
The sea is the symbol of freedom for the Romantic poets. Victor Hugo contemplates it, from the island of Guernsey which he has chosen for his political exile.
The poet is dreaming: it is his job. And he draws. Hugo was one of the most original drawing artists, known mainly for his fantastic castles. The precise outline of a medieval tower stands over the twilight in a wash of sepia, a color in fashion in his time.
Artcurial sells on March 24 in Paris a marine drawing by Victor Hugo, 10 x 27 cm, executed by the same technique around 1860. A three-masted ship enhanced by white gouache sails out of the fog.
Of course, the overwhelming reputation of Victor Hugo in literature is masking his work as a figurative artist on paper, between Turner and Seurat. The estimate, 30 K €, may be too low.
POST SALE COMMENT
Yes, the estimate was too low. This drawing takes its suitable place in the barometer of art at auction with a very good result, 81 K € including premium.
1861 A Luminist in the Regiment
2013 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Sanford Robinson Gifford is an artist belonging to the second generation of the Hudson River School and a leading proponent of Luminism, paying particular attention to the effects of light on the American landscape.
Contemporary of the Barbizon school that already advocated outdoor painting on the other side of the Atlantic, he works according to conventional method of performing sketches on the ground before composing his oil paintings in the studio.
When Civil War broke out in 1861, Gifford engages the Union troops, joining the Seventh Regiment commissioned by Lincoln to defend the capital. Although the evidence confirms that he took seriously his role as a soldier, he did not omit to carry his notebooks for making sketches.
On the same year, during his time off, he executes a series of four paintings depicting military life at various times of the day.
The oil on canvas showing the troops on a Sunday morning in a pleasant meadow, 41 x 76 cm, had the honor of being exhibited in the Oval Office of the White House for a few years starting with the second centenary of Independence. It is estimated $ 3M, for sale by Christie's in New York on December 5 .
In this interesting ancient view of Washington DC, Soldier Gifford offers a message of peace by his positioning of the strengths of this landscape : in the foreground with a preacher whose podium is coated with the American flag, and farther with the Washington Monument then under construction to dominate the valley of the Potomac.
Sanford Robinson Gifford is an artist belonging to the second generation of the Hudson River School and a leading proponent of Luminism, paying particular attention to the effects of light on the American landscape.
Contemporary of the Barbizon school that already advocated outdoor painting on the other side of the Atlantic, he works according to conventional method of performing sketches on the ground before composing his oil paintings in the studio.
When Civil War broke out in 1861, Gifford engages the Union troops, joining the Seventh Regiment commissioned by Lincoln to defend the capital. Although the evidence confirms that he took seriously his role as a soldier, he did not omit to carry his notebooks for making sketches.
On the same year, during his time off, he executes a series of four paintings depicting military life at various times of the day.
The oil on canvas showing the troops on a Sunday morning in a pleasant meadow, 41 x 76 cm, had the honor of being exhibited in the Oval Office of the White House for a few years starting with the second centenary of Independence. It is estimated $ 3M, for sale by Christie's in New York on December 5 .
In this interesting ancient view of Washington DC, Soldier Gifford offers a message of peace by his positioning of the strengths of this landscape : in the foreground with a preacher whose podium is coated with the American flag, and farther with the Washington Monument then under construction to dominate the valley of the Potomac.
1862 Souvenir from Maine
2013 sold 1.38 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Born in Gloucester and son of a sailmaker, FH Lane became fascinated with the landscapes of the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Maine. He worked from sketches made during rowing or sailing trips.
Paralyzed in his legs since childhood, his career took place outside the artistic circles but he was not isolated. He became the best painter of marine scenery in New England and influenced William Bradford. His realistic topographicstyle with great care to detail was forgotten during the decades of Impressionism.
On 19 November 2004, Skinner sold for $ 5.5 million including premium a panoramic view of the Manchester harbor.This oil on canvas 61 x 91 cm painted in 1853 has some qualities of a Vernet with its animated foreground and its wide dynamic sky.
On September 20 in Boston, Skinner sells a view of Camden Mounts, estimated $ 1.2 M. Here is the link to the catalog.
This oil on canvas 33 x 56 cm was made in 1862, seven years after his tour in this region of Maine. The warm colors of twilight painted from memory and the landscape simplified for increasing the dramatic effect indicate a new trend in the style of the artist, enabling a comparison with his contemporary who was working at the other end of the world, Ivan Aivazovsky.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 1.2M before fees, exactly matches the lower estimate.
Born in Gloucester and son of a sailmaker, FH Lane became fascinated with the landscapes of the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Maine. He worked from sketches made during rowing or sailing trips.
Paralyzed in his legs since childhood, his career took place outside the artistic circles but he was not isolated. He became the best painter of marine scenery in New England and influenced William Bradford. His realistic topographicstyle with great care to detail was forgotten during the decades of Impressionism.
On 19 November 2004, Skinner sold for $ 5.5 million including premium a panoramic view of the Manchester harbor.This oil on canvas 61 x 91 cm painted in 1853 has some qualities of a Vernet with its animated foreground and its wide dynamic sky.
On September 20 in Boston, Skinner sells a view of Camden Mounts, estimated $ 1.2 M. Here is the link to the catalog.
This oil on canvas 33 x 56 cm was made in 1862, seven years after his tour in this region of Maine. The warm colors of twilight painted from memory and the landscape simplified for increasing the dramatic effect indicate a new trend in the style of the artist, enabling a comparison with his contemporary who was working at the other end of the world, Ivan Aivazovsky.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 1.2M before fees, exactly matches the lower estimate.
1863-1871 ALBERT BIERSTADT ATTRACTED BY THE WEST
2009 SOLD 1.76 M$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In the mid-nineteenth century, the North American continent was still largely to be explored. The government sent military missions to the West to discover the territory and ensure the safety of roads.
One of these expeditions, in 1859, was led by Frederick W. Lander. He was accompanied by a photographer aged 29 years, Albert Bierstadt. Having become a painter, Albert Bierstadt often worked from photographs, while his brother Charles became a leading photographer of Niagara Falls.
The Lander road is part of the Oregon trail, a complex set of carriage tracks that enabled immigrants to reach the Pacific coast. Bierstadt treated on this subject in a realistic style for the picture, and heroic style for the topic.
Christie's offers for sale on May 20 in New York a night scene on the Oregon Trail. The scenery with big trees is illuminated by the campfire, while pioneers are doing their evening activities. As true as the original, their large wagon is lighted by the moon.
This unusual oil on canvas, 76 x 112 cm, will appeal to fans of the Far West. It is estimated $ 2 million. It is undated, but works similarly inspired were executed between 1863 and 1871.
POST SALE COMMENT
Times are hard, even for those typically American scenes: Oregon Trail has been sold, but far below the estimate: result is $ 1.76 million including costs.
This sale will be reminded, however, with the excellent result recorded on the painting by Milton Avery that was chosen for the cover of the catalog: $ 2.2 million including expenses, on an estimate of 600 K $. It shows two artists drawing on seaside.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the North American continent was still largely to be explored. The government sent military missions to the West to discover the territory and ensure the safety of roads.
One of these expeditions, in 1859, was led by Frederick W. Lander. He was accompanied by a photographer aged 29 years, Albert Bierstadt. Having become a painter, Albert Bierstadt often worked from photographs, while his brother Charles became a leading photographer of Niagara Falls.
The Lander road is part of the Oregon trail, a complex set of carriage tracks that enabled immigrants to reach the Pacific coast. Bierstadt treated on this subject in a realistic style for the picture, and heroic style for the topic.
Christie's offers for sale on May 20 in New York a night scene on the Oregon Trail. The scenery with big trees is illuminated by the campfire, while pioneers are doing their evening activities. As true as the original, their large wagon is lighted by the moon.
This unusual oil on canvas, 76 x 112 cm, will appeal to fans of the Far West. It is estimated $ 2 million. It is undated, but works similarly inspired were executed between 1863 and 1871.
POST SALE COMMENT
Times are hard, even for those typically American scenes: Oregon Trail has been sold, but far below the estimate: result is $ 1.76 million including costs.
This sale will be reminded, however, with the excellent result recorded on the painting by Milton Avery that was chosen for the cover of the catalog: $ 2.2 million including expenses, on an estimate of 600 K $. It shows two artists drawing on seaside.
1864 the sleep of the white girl
2018 unsold
In 1853 Les Baigneuses painted by Courbet are rejected with disgust by the imperial family. The censorship of pornographic images during the Second Empire causes their illegal proliferation and encourages young artists to the provocations. In 1862 and 1863 Whistler's Symphony in White and Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe trigger new scandals.
Yet Symphony in White, also named The White Girl, shows a young woman very well dressed, without any nudity. In contrast to the long white gown, the fact that she is standing on a wolf hide whose mouth is wide open is an aggressive symbol of lost innocence.
The white girl is Jo, Whistler's mistress. Aged about 20 years, she has a strong personality that does not fear scandals. This beautiful young Irish woman with abundant Venetian red hair is admired by all the friends of the artist.
In 1864 Courbet uses a thick impasto which highlights the flesh and will excite Lucian Freud. The logical outcome of his art would be to show the heterosexual act but he does not dare. Continuing after his Baigneuses on the theme of the couples of women, he prepares a scene with two life size female nudes titled Vénus et Psyché which is of course rejected by the Salon.
In this painting 145 x 195 cm destroyed in Germany during the Second World War, the red haired woman who sleeps while her companion is approaching is Jo, whose figure was painted by Courbet perhaps from photography or memory.
On October 31 in New York, Christie's sells a 57 x 70 cm oil on canvas which is a preliminary study for the red haired woman of Vénus et Psyché. It is estimated $ 3.5M, lot 8. Please watch the very short video prepared by the auction house.
In 1866 during an absence of his lover, Jo comes to pose in the Parisian studio of Courbet. She appears as one of the nude entwined women in Le Sommeil, the masterpiece of Lesbian art. Whistler does not accept this new role of a cuckold and they separate. She is perhaps also the young woman of L'Origine du Monde, painted in the same year for the same customer.
Yet Symphony in White, also named The White Girl, shows a young woman very well dressed, without any nudity. In contrast to the long white gown, the fact that she is standing on a wolf hide whose mouth is wide open is an aggressive symbol of lost innocence.
The white girl is Jo, Whistler's mistress. Aged about 20 years, she has a strong personality that does not fear scandals. This beautiful young Irish woman with abundant Venetian red hair is admired by all the friends of the artist.
In 1864 Courbet uses a thick impasto which highlights the flesh and will excite Lucian Freud. The logical outcome of his art would be to show the heterosexual act but he does not dare. Continuing after his Baigneuses on the theme of the couples of women, he prepares a scene with two life size female nudes titled Vénus et Psyché which is of course rejected by the Salon.
In this painting 145 x 195 cm destroyed in Germany during the Second World War, the red haired woman who sleeps while her companion is approaching is Jo, whose figure was painted by Courbet perhaps from photography or memory.
On October 31 in New York, Christie's sells a 57 x 70 cm oil on canvas which is a preliminary study for the red haired woman of Vénus et Psyché. It is estimated $ 3.5M, lot 8. Please watch the very short video prepared by the auction house.
In 1866 during an absence of his lover, Jo comes to pose in the Parisian studio of Courbet. She appears as one of the nude entwined women in Le Sommeil, the masterpiece of Lesbian art. Whistler does not accept this new role of a cuckold and they separate. She is perhaps also the young woman of L'Origine du Monde, painted in the same year for the same customer.
Christie’s Breaks Out 19th Century Evening Sale https://t.co/tUFulGQ0rN pic.twitter.com/0fxV0vj0VD
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) June 27, 2018
1869 Orientalism on the Nile
2013 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
A painting by Gérôme, unsold on December 11, 2012, comes again in the same auction house. Here is my text of last year changed to include the information of the next sale:
Contemporary of Bouguereau and Ziem, Jean-Léon Gérôme devoted much of his work to orientalism. Photographywas not sufficient to excite the dream of the public, and the painter's art was to create idealized scenes improved bywarm colors.
Gérôme visited Egypt several times. He observed the monuments and the incomparable luxury of their interiors. The rare river scene for sale by Artcurial in Paris on December 10, entitled Promenade du Harem, is exceptional in several features.
A boat propelled by ten rowers glides on the misty Nile like a gondola on the lagoon. It supports a luxurious cabin in which the hidden women suggested by the title spend a pleasant moment.
This oil on canvas made circa 1869 is very large for Gérôme's art, 86 x 150 cm. It had been kept by the family of theartist.
It is estimated € 450K.
A painting by Gérôme, unsold on December 11, 2012, comes again in the same auction house. Here is my text of last year changed to include the information of the next sale:
Contemporary of Bouguereau and Ziem, Jean-Léon Gérôme devoted much of his work to orientalism. Photographywas not sufficient to excite the dream of the public, and the painter's art was to create idealized scenes improved bywarm colors.
Gérôme visited Egypt several times. He observed the monuments and the incomparable luxury of their interiors. The rare river scene for sale by Artcurial in Paris on December 10, entitled Promenade du Harem, is exceptional in several features.
A boat propelled by ten rowers glides on the misty Nile like a gondola on the lagoon. It supports a luxurious cabin in which the hidden women suggested by the title spend a pleasant moment.
This oil on canvas made circa 1869 is very large for Gérôme's art, 86 x 150 cm. It had been kept by the family of theartist.
It is estimated € 450K.
1869 Quiet Time in Fiesole
2013 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
William Holman Hunt wanted a mystical approach to art, in which truth must supersede style. He will remain faithful all along his life to the pre-Raphaelite conceptions of which he was the founder and the theorist.
To find his inspiration, he traveled to Holy Land and Italy. His wife died in childbirth in Florence in December 1866, and he came back two years later in the Tuscan capital to prepare her monument. He then spent several months in Fiesole.
Tuscany deserves its reputation for harmony, by its landscapes and its quality of life. The feeling of peace is certainly unusual to Hunt. The portrait of the gardener's daughter, oil on canvas 54 x 44 cm painted in 1869, is a pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, twenty years after the genesis of the movement.
The peasant child looks straight towards the viewer, with a collared dove confidently perched on her shoulder. This artwork is a hymn to Tuscany: the girl is plaiting straw, a flourishing specialty craft of this region at that time, and the soft hills figure in background like in a medieval painting. Many years later, Hunt stated that Perugino had loved similar themes of pictures.
This charming portrait does not reveal that its achievement was an ordeal for Hunt. The catalog tells the difficulty to keep quiet a young child and a bird. The result is a masterpiece without real equivalent in the art of Hunt. Note also that the religious dimension is not absent : the gentle bird symbolizes Christ protecting young children.
This painting in its frame designed by the artist is estimated £ 3M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 4.Here is the link to the catalog.
William Holman Hunt wanted a mystical approach to art, in which truth must supersede style. He will remain faithful all along his life to the pre-Raphaelite conceptions of which he was the founder and the theorist.
To find his inspiration, he traveled to Holy Land and Italy. His wife died in childbirth in Florence in December 1866, and he came back two years later in the Tuscan capital to prepare her monument. He then spent several months in Fiesole.
Tuscany deserves its reputation for harmony, by its landscapes and its quality of life. The feeling of peace is certainly unusual to Hunt. The portrait of the gardener's daughter, oil on canvas 54 x 44 cm painted in 1869, is a pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, twenty years after the genesis of the movement.
The peasant child looks straight towards the viewer, with a collared dove confidently perched on her shoulder. This artwork is a hymn to Tuscany: the girl is plaiting straw, a flourishing specialty craft of this region at that time, and the soft hills figure in background like in a medieval painting. Many years later, Hunt stated that Perugino had loved similar themes of pictures.
This charming portrait does not reveal that its achievement was an ordeal for Hunt. The catalog tells the difficulty to keep quiet a young child and a bird. The result is a masterpiece without real equivalent in the art of Hunt. Note also that the religious dimension is not absent : the gentle bird symbolizes Christ protecting young children.
This painting in its frame designed by the artist is estimated £ 3M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 4.Here is the link to the catalog.
1871 The Mythological Casket of Rossetti
2014 unsold
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an enthusiast who sought to reach the source of mysticism through poetry and painting. In 1862, the death of his wife Lizzie after a failed childbirth pushed him into a period of eccentricities that anticipates his final mental breakdown.
From 1865, Rossetti met again one of his earlier muses, Jane, who was the wife of his friend William Morris since 1859. He painted realistic portraits of Jane before emboldening to display her as the femme fatale of mythology, haughty up to looking haggard.
An exacerbated portrait of Jane as Pandora, oil on canvas 131 x 79 cm painted in 1871, is estimated £ 5M for sale bySotheby's in London on May 22. This is a masterpiece of pre-Raphaelite sensitivity.
Pandora is the Eve of Greek mythology, the author of the original disobedience. Rossetti shows the woman opening the box that gave off the fumes of all the evils of humanity.
The mythological muse of Rossetti is also in some way reopening Lizzie's coffin. One of the extravagances of Rossetti had been to bury his unpublished poems in the grave of his wife. After eight years of doubt and remorse, he unearthed and published them in 1870. Their erotic content made a scandal.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
From 1865, Rossetti met again one of his earlier muses, Jane, who was the wife of his friend William Morris since 1859. He painted realistic portraits of Jane before emboldening to display her as the femme fatale of mythology, haughty up to looking haggard.
An exacerbated portrait of Jane as Pandora, oil on canvas 131 x 79 cm painted in 1871, is estimated £ 5M for sale bySotheby's in London on May 22. This is a masterpiece of pre-Raphaelite sensitivity.
Pandora is the Eve of Greek mythology, the author of the original disobedience. Rossetti shows the woman opening the box that gave off the fumes of all the evils of humanity.
The mythological muse of Rossetti is also in some way reopening Lizzie's coffin. One of the extravagances of Rossetti had been to bury his unpublished poems in the grave of his wife. After eight years of doubt and remorse, he unearthed and published them in 1870. Their erotic content made a scandal.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1872 Just before Impressionism
2013 SOLD 6.2 M£ including premium
1872 is a year of great creativity for Claude Monet.
A Marine painted in Le Havre, oil on canvas 48 x 63 cm, will become the emblem of modern art. The artist captures the subtle and ephemeral colors of a sunrise. The drawing is minimized in favor of the symphony of colors. Two years later, he will title this painting Impression (soleil levant).
On June 19 in London, Sotheby's sells 'le pont de bois', oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm painted on the same year.
The view shows the bridge at Argenteuil under reconstruction after being destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War. The temporary wooden structure already enables the crossing and is animated with walkers and a horse-drawn carriage.
The composition is very subtle with a double symmetry that may have been inspired by Japanese prints: a vertical symmetry with the reflections in the Seine river and a horizontal symmetry accentuated by the scaffoldings.
The evening colors are subtle and varied, and draw the attention to the flickering reflections due to the lapping of the river. The perspective is not useful: the distance to the background is expressed by a halo of mist.
The wooden bridge is one of the earliest masterpieces by Monet. The purchase of this painting by Edouard Manet as early as 1872 was a great encouragement for the young artist. Now coming from the Rau collection, it is sold in aid of UNICEF. The announced estimate at £ 4M is too low. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good price for this early Monet: £ 6.2 million including premium, a little below its higher estimate.
Shared on Wikimedia :
A Marine painted in Le Havre, oil on canvas 48 x 63 cm, will become the emblem of modern art. The artist captures the subtle and ephemeral colors of a sunrise. The drawing is minimized in favor of the symphony of colors. Two years later, he will title this painting Impression (soleil levant).
On June 19 in London, Sotheby's sells 'le pont de bois', oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm painted on the same year.
The view shows the bridge at Argenteuil under reconstruction after being destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War. The temporary wooden structure already enables the crossing and is animated with walkers and a horse-drawn carriage.
The composition is very subtle with a double symmetry that may have been inspired by Japanese prints: a vertical symmetry with the reflections in the Seine river and a horizontal symmetry accentuated by the scaffoldings.
The evening colors are subtle and varied, and draw the attention to the flickering reflections due to the lapping of the river. The perspective is not useful: the distance to the background is expressed by a halo of mist.
The wooden bridge is one of the earliest masterpieces by Monet. The purchase of this painting by Edouard Manet as early as 1872 was a great encouragement for the young artist. Now coming from the Rau collection, it is sold in aid of UNICEF. The announced estimate at £ 4M is too low. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good price for this early Monet: £ 6.2 million including premium, a little below its higher estimate.
Shared on Wikimedia :
1874 The Rustle of the Seine
2016 SOLD for $ 11.4M including premium
Young artists refuse the academicism of the official Salons. They create a cooperative and organize their first exhibition in the spring of 1874. No less than 29 artists participate, demonstrating the scale and momentum of this new movement. Impression Soleil levant painted two years earlier by Monet becomes the flagship of the new painting : they can show the mist without drawing the outlines.
Claude Monet is confident and enthusiastic. During the summer he paints tirelessly the Seine river at Argenteuil where he lives. The grass of the meadow and the reflection in the water are the sources of his new inspiration, the real birth of Impressionnisme.
Monet appreciates that his best ally is the spontaneity. The emotion is generated by the speed that liberates the instinct. He improves his technique by varying the brushstrokes by topic on the same canvas : horizontal mark for water and comma shaped wrist movement in the tree. The skilled hand of the artist generates a vibration that reflects the tremor and rustling of water and wind. Monet may now match Constable.
Le Petit-Gennevilliers is right in front of Argenteuil, on the other side of the river. Monet works outdoors: he set up his easel on a barge under the railway bridge. Boats for rent await the walkers at this point, increasing the charm of the scene. A painting by Manet shows Monet busy at work at that very place.
On May 12 in New York, Christie's sells a view of Le Petit-Gennevilliers painted by Monet in 1874, oil on canvas 55 x 73 cm, lot 16C estimated $ 12M. The weather is gray and the sun is screened, providing an atmosphere altogether soft and quivering which is a beautiful effect of the early impressionist experiences.
Since 1901 this painting did not leave the collection of the philanthropist HO Havemeyer and his wife Louisine who were in their time the best connoisseurs of impressionism in the United States.
Claude Monet is confident and enthusiastic. During the summer he paints tirelessly the Seine river at Argenteuil where he lives. The grass of the meadow and the reflection in the water are the sources of his new inspiration, the real birth of Impressionnisme.
Monet appreciates that his best ally is the spontaneity. The emotion is generated by the speed that liberates the instinct. He improves his technique by varying the brushstrokes by topic on the same canvas : horizontal mark for water and comma shaped wrist movement in the tree. The skilled hand of the artist generates a vibration that reflects the tremor and rustling of water and wind. Monet may now match Constable.
Le Petit-Gennevilliers is right in front of Argenteuil, on the other side of the river. Monet works outdoors: he set up his easel on a barge under the railway bridge. Boats for rent await the walkers at this point, increasing the charm of the scene. A painting by Manet shows Monet busy at work at that very place.
On May 12 in New York, Christie's sells a view of Le Petit-Gennevilliers painted by Monet in 1874, oil on canvas 55 x 73 cm, lot 16C estimated $ 12M. The weather is gray and the sun is screened, providing an atmosphere altogether soft and quivering which is a beautiful effect of the early impressionist experiences.
Since 1901 this painting did not leave the collection of the philanthropist HO Havemeyer and his wife Louisine who were in their time the best connoisseurs of impressionism in the United States.
Art du XXe siècle : des œuvres exceptionnelles chez Christie's à New York https://t.co/84x2PEVljX @PierrickMoritz pic.twitter.com/isCmumUtdp
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) April 27, 2016
1874 Snow on Louveciennes
2017 SOLD for £ 7.4M including premium
Ideally located between Versailles and St Germain en Laye above the Seine valley, the small village of Louveciennes is appreciated by the future Impressionnistes. Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley live permanently or temporarily there. The winding streets give a typical impression of the French countryside while we are just 10 Km away from Paris in bird's flight.
During the winter 1874 the creativity of the young artists is exacerbated by the new ideas of outdoor landscape painting. Their first collective exhibition will take place in the spring of the same year.
The snow fell on Louveciennes. Alfred Sisley observes the clear hues that dot the thick white layer in pink, yellow or blue under the light and purple in the shadows. His compositions are structured geometrically with segments of diagonals or of circles.
On February 3, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 2,16M including premium Route à Louveciennes, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm in portrait format where Sisley shows the curve of the snow covered street in front of his house.
On March 1 in London, Sotheby's sells Effet de neige à Louveciennes, oil on canvas of the same dimension in landscape format, lot 18 estimated £ 6M. The clear sky and its reflection on the snow in the bright light of a start or end of day bring to this picture a blue dominance. In this example Sisley's skill as a landscape painter is comparable to Monet's.
During the winter 1874 the creativity of the young artists is exacerbated by the new ideas of outdoor landscape painting. Their first collective exhibition will take place in the spring of the same year.
The snow fell on Louveciennes. Alfred Sisley observes the clear hues that dot the thick white layer in pink, yellow or blue under the light and purple in the shadows. His compositions are structured geometrically with segments of diagonals or of circles.
On February 3, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 2,16M including premium Route à Louveciennes, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm in portrait format where Sisley shows the curve of the snow covered street in front of his house.
On March 1 in London, Sotheby's sells Effet de neige à Louveciennes, oil on canvas of the same dimension in landscape format, lot 18 estimated £ 6M. The clear sky and its reflection on the snow in the bright light of a start or end of day bring to this picture a blue dominance. In this example Sisley's skill as a landscape painter is comparable to Monet's.
#AuctionUpdate In from the cold, #Sisley’s rare snowscape sets a new #record for the artist, selling for £7.4m pic.twitter.com/71KQNoOU5o
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 1, 2017
1874 The Society of the Impressionnistes
2012 SOLD 8.8 M$ including premium
DISCUSSION PRE 2011 SALE
During the Second Empire and the beginning of the Third Republic, the dedication for a French artist was to make his work accepted in the Salons organized by the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
However the modern trend was shifting too much from the classic taste, and the best of them failed to win the honor. In 1874, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Degas and Berthe Morisot helped each other by creating the Société anonyme coopérative des artistes peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs. At their first show in the same year, a bitter critic designates them under the name of Impressionnistes.
The oil on canvas by Monet, 54 x 73 cm, for sale by Aguttes in Paris on June 27, was made precisely in that year. It is illustrated on the catalog page shared by LiveAuctioneers.
This is a typical Impressionist artwork. This view taken near Argenteuil bridge has for main subject the grasses on the slope, so present in their mixed colors that they do not need to be supported by a drawing. The bridge itself, which quietly closes the horizon, and the Seine river have mostly the role of locating the scene.
The painting, estimated € 6M, has the best possible source for a work of this movement: in 1876 it was bought to Monet by Gustave Caillebotte.
In 1876, a young woman is lying in a similar meadow, although with more flowers. This masterpiece of early Impressionism, oil on canvas 60 x 82 cm, was sold £ 11.2 million including premium by Christie's on February 4, 2009.
POST 2011 SALE COMMENTS
1
The result of the sale can be seen on LiveAuctioneers. Monet's painting was sold € 5.6 million before fees. The estimate was ambitious. This is a good result.
2
Erratum, confirming my view that the estimate was ambitious: the Monet was not sold.
I will now improve my practice to capture the prize. The live auction platforms can sometimes have no visibility when the reserve is not met.
POST 2012 SALE COMMENT
I had not seen it before sale. On December 6, during Art Basel Miami in Miami Beach, this Monet painting was sold $ 8.8 million including premium by FAAM (Fine Art Auctions Miami).
During the Second Empire and the beginning of the Third Republic, the dedication for a French artist was to make his work accepted in the Salons organized by the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
However the modern trend was shifting too much from the classic taste, and the best of them failed to win the honor. In 1874, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Degas and Berthe Morisot helped each other by creating the Société anonyme coopérative des artistes peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs. At their first show in the same year, a bitter critic designates them under the name of Impressionnistes.
The oil on canvas by Monet, 54 x 73 cm, for sale by Aguttes in Paris on June 27, was made precisely in that year. It is illustrated on the catalog page shared by LiveAuctioneers.
This is a typical Impressionist artwork. This view taken near Argenteuil bridge has for main subject the grasses on the slope, so present in their mixed colors that they do not need to be supported by a drawing. The bridge itself, which quietly closes the horizon, and the Seine river have mostly the role of locating the scene.
The painting, estimated € 6M, has the best possible source for a work of this movement: in 1876 it was bought to Monet by Gustave Caillebotte.
In 1876, a young woman is lying in a similar meadow, although with more flowers. This masterpiece of early Impressionism, oil on canvas 60 x 82 cm, was sold £ 11.2 million including premium by Christie's on February 4, 2009.
POST 2011 SALE COMMENTS
1
The result of the sale can be seen on LiveAuctioneers. Monet's painting was sold € 5.6 million before fees. The estimate was ambitious. This is a good result.
2
Erratum, confirming my view that the estimate was ambitious: the Monet was not sold.
I will now improve my practice to capture the prize. The live auction platforms can sometimes have no visibility when the reserve is not met.
POST 2012 SALE COMMENT
I had not seen it before sale. On December 6, during Art Basel Miami in Miami Beach, this Monet painting was sold $ 8.8 million including premium by FAAM (Fine Art Auctions Miami).
1874 HAPPY TIME WITH CARPEAUX
2011 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
All Parisians know la Danse (the Dance), the sculpture that adorns the front of the Opera since 1869 (replaced by a fresh copy after suffering the wear of weather).
This work is typical of the art of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, a sculptor native of Valenciennes who managed to get thefavor of Napoléon III. The characters in his busts and nudes are on the move and enjoy smiling. Away from the trendsof his time, his allegorical themes are never religious.
Carpeaux is not much visible in international auctions. This injustice will be repaired in Paris on October 26 and 27 in the sale of the Fabius Frères collection organized by Sotheby's in association with PIASA.
The top lot of this set is a marble on the theme of Daphnis and Chloe. Standing, the sweet naked teenagers are exchanging romantic confidences. The sculpture 1.40 m high is mounted on a small painted wooden base.
This work was executed in 1874 on a commission by Lord Ashburton who wanted a pendant to the Cupid and Psyche by Canova. It is estimated € 1M.
POST SALE COMMENT
There is no doubt that Daphnis et Chloé is a masterpiece of Carpeaux, but this artist, popular in France,is not a tenor in the international market, and the estimate was too high. Unsold.
Yet in the same sale, a pair of pendants in marble was sold € 936K including premium. It shows two classic topics in the work of Carpeaux: the Girl with a shell and the Fisherman with a shell.
Here is the video shared by Sotheby's :
All Parisians know la Danse (the Dance), the sculpture that adorns the front of the Opera since 1869 (replaced by a fresh copy after suffering the wear of weather).
This work is typical of the art of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, a sculptor native of Valenciennes who managed to get thefavor of Napoléon III. The characters in his busts and nudes are on the move and enjoy smiling. Away from the trendsof his time, his allegorical themes are never religious.
Carpeaux is not much visible in international auctions. This injustice will be repaired in Paris on October 26 and 27 in the sale of the Fabius Frères collection organized by Sotheby's in association with PIASA.
The top lot of this set is a marble on the theme of Daphnis and Chloe. Standing, the sweet naked teenagers are exchanging romantic confidences. The sculpture 1.40 m high is mounted on a small painted wooden base.
This work was executed in 1874 on a commission by Lord Ashburton who wanted a pendant to the Cupid and Psyche by Canova. It is estimated € 1M.
POST SALE COMMENT
There is no doubt that Daphnis et Chloé is a masterpiece of Carpeaux, but this artist, popular in France,is not a tenor in the international market, and the estimate was too high. Unsold.
Yet in the same sale, a pair of pendants in marble was sold € 936K including premium. It shows two classic topics in the work of Carpeaux: the Girl with a shell and the Fisherman with a shell.
Here is the video shared by Sotheby's :
1875 River Bank in Argenteuil
2014 SOLD 8.5 M£ including premium
Claude Monet lived six years in Argenteuil from December 1871. The small town on the Seine was near Paris, easily accessible by rail, and offered to young men the pleasure of sailing. His friends made frequent visits to him. They compared their creative experiences. Argenteuil then became a cradle of modern art.
The transition was not immediate. In the early years, Monet had retained the processing of light in landscapes by Courbet. His line was sharp and his drawing met the perspectives.
The first basic development by Monet was to privilege the pleasant atmosphere of the place instead of tourism effects for which photography was quite enough. With his friends, he tirelessly changed the view while expressing all shades of color and light.
In 1874, the first exhibition of their society of artists disturbs the critics and is not a success, but Monet goes bolder. This so effective action of his brush that removes the lines appears at that time. This is the very beginning of Impressionism, a wording that these young artists will not accept until 1877.
One of the coolest features in Monet painting is the fact that the removal of contours does not relieve him for showing the strict proportions. Without being completely straight, the banks of the Seine river and the borders of the road are leading the way up to the horizon with a vanishing point which structures the whole image.
This impressionist style in its classical period recreates the atmosphere of the place, with its sun, greenery and freshness. Monet is now the best successor to Constable.
An oil on canvas 60 x 80 cm painted in 1875 was sold for $ 7.6 million at Christie's on May 14, 1997. It is estimated £ 7M for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 23.
POST SALE COMMENT
This beautiful example of early Impressionism by Monet was sold for £ 8.5 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video where Sotheby's introduces the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. collection including this view of Argenteuil and a very bright view of Antibes by the same artist.
The transition was not immediate. In the early years, Monet had retained the processing of light in landscapes by Courbet. His line was sharp and his drawing met the perspectives.
The first basic development by Monet was to privilege the pleasant atmosphere of the place instead of tourism effects for which photography was quite enough. With his friends, he tirelessly changed the view while expressing all shades of color and light.
In 1874, the first exhibition of their society of artists disturbs the critics and is not a success, but Monet goes bolder. This so effective action of his brush that removes the lines appears at that time. This is the very beginning of Impressionism, a wording that these young artists will not accept until 1877.
One of the coolest features in Monet painting is the fact that the removal of contours does not relieve him for showing the strict proportions. Without being completely straight, the banks of the Seine river and the borders of the road are leading the way up to the horizon with a vanishing point which structures the whole image.
This impressionist style in its classical period recreates the atmosphere of the place, with its sun, greenery and freshness. Monet is now the best successor to Constable.
An oil on canvas 60 x 80 cm painted in 1875 was sold for $ 7.6 million at Christie's on May 14, 1997. It is estimated £ 7M for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 23.
POST SALE COMMENT
This beautiful example of early Impressionism by Monet was sold for £ 8.5 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video where Sotheby's introduces the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. collection including this view of Argenteuil and a very bright view of Antibes by the same artist.
1875 Melting Snow along the Seine River
2015 SOLD for $ 6.4M including premium
The Seine river plays a major role in the early career of Claude Monet but his marriage in 1871 led him to lose his attraction to the fun places of its islands.
Now living in Argenteuil, he observes the life on and around the Seine with its sails, bridges and embankments. After a few years, which are the key period of the definition of the Impressionniste style, Monet becomes a landscape artist looking for a communion with earth and light. Humans still appear in the scenery, but their role is reduced to identify the scale.
The artist walks along the river and places his easel on the banks. A view of Argenteuil painted in 1875, 60 x 80 cm, with a beautiful contrast of light and shadow under a dappled sky was sold for £ 8.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014.
Monet used to say that he was a Parisian but in his youth the influence of Eugène Boudin had attracted him to the countryside. He considered the snow as an atmosphere and not as a disturbance and it became one of his favorite themes.
On May 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 61 x 100 cm painted in 1875 showing the melting snow on the banks at Epinay, upstream of Argenteuil. The light is filtered through a cloudy sky. The common landscape has provided the opportunity for a masterpiece. This painting is estimated $ 6M, lot 49.
Now living in Argenteuil, he observes the life on and around the Seine with its sails, bridges and embankments. After a few years, which are the key period of the definition of the Impressionniste style, Monet becomes a landscape artist looking for a communion with earth and light. Humans still appear in the scenery, but their role is reduced to identify the scale.
The artist walks along the river and places his easel on the banks. A view of Argenteuil painted in 1875, 60 x 80 cm, with a beautiful contrast of light and shadow under a dappled sky was sold for £ 8.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014.
Monet used to say that he was a Parisian but in his youth the influence of Eugène Boudin had attracted him to the countryside. He considered the snow as an atmosphere and not as a disturbance and it became one of his favorite themes.
On May 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 61 x 100 cm painted in 1875 showing the melting snow on the banks at Epinay, upstream of Argenteuil. The light is filtered through a cloudy sky. The common landscape has provided the opportunity for a masterpiece. This painting is estimated $ 6M, lot 49.
Second time's the charm as an earlier #ClaudeMonet lot returns to the block and sells for a $6.4 mil final @Sothebys pic.twitter.com/mTXqJQZ8Fy
— Art Observed (@ArtObserved) May 6, 20151875 Oriental Pomegranates
2012 sold 2.65 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
It is not enough to consider that Bouguereau was the most academic of the French painters of the nineteenth century.Certainly, during his long career, he used all the classical teachings in his balanced compositions for which human beings are hopelessly charming whatever the narrative genre: bucolic, mythological, mystical.
The Orient fascinates the contemporaries of Bouguereau, including Gérôme. Some of them make the trip and others don't, but that does not matter at that time when knowledge is disclosed through photography and printmaking.
Orient was probably not of highest interest to Bouguereau, but Orientalism had become a full theme of classicism so that the master could no longer ignore it.
Bouguereau as an Orientalist was rediscovered on May 4, 2012 at Sotheby's. An oil on canvas, 60 x 46 cm, dated1 875, was sold for $ 2.3 million including premium from an estimate of $ 500K. Dressed in Oriental fashion, the nice girl with brown skin holds a pomegranate, a symbol of chastity.
Another painting of the same year is for sale by Christie's in New York on October 29. Larger, 116 x 90 cm, this more ambitious composition depicts the same teenager now becoming a seller on the street against a background composed of monuments of Cairo. Her basket with six pomegranates awaits guests.
This work is estimated $ 2.5 M.
POST SALE COMMENT
Bouguereau could have been a great Orientalist painter. This rare painting was sold $ 2.65 million including premium.
The sale had been postponed to November 1 due to hurricane Sandy.
It is not enough to consider that Bouguereau was the most academic of the French painters of the nineteenth century.Certainly, during his long career, he used all the classical teachings in his balanced compositions for which human beings are hopelessly charming whatever the narrative genre: bucolic, mythological, mystical.
The Orient fascinates the contemporaries of Bouguereau, including Gérôme. Some of them make the trip and others don't, but that does not matter at that time when knowledge is disclosed through photography and printmaking.
Orient was probably not of highest interest to Bouguereau, but Orientalism had become a full theme of classicism so that the master could no longer ignore it.
Bouguereau as an Orientalist was rediscovered on May 4, 2012 at Sotheby's. An oil on canvas, 60 x 46 cm, dated1 875, was sold for $ 2.3 million including premium from an estimate of $ 500K. Dressed in Oriental fashion, the nice girl with brown skin holds a pomegranate, a symbol of chastity.
Another painting of the same year is for sale by Christie's in New York on October 29. Larger, 116 x 90 cm, this more ambitious composition depicts the same teenager now becoming a seller on the street against a background composed of monuments of Cairo. Her basket with six pomegranates awaits guests.
This work is estimated $ 2.5 M.
POST SALE COMMENT
Bouguereau could have been a great Orientalist painter. This rare painting was sold $ 2.65 million including premium.
The sale had been postponed to November 1 due to hurricane Sandy.
The Enthusiasm of Carpeaux
2018 sold for € 128k including premium
A plaster of Le Génie de la Danse by Carpeaux is estimated € 150K for sale in Paris Hôtel Drouot by Thierry de Maigret on June 6, lot 55. I narrated it as follows before it passed at Christie's on September 15, 2016 :
The Opéra de Paris is a significant witness of the transformation of the French capital under Napoléon III. Selected as its architect, Charles Garnier places this new profane temple of music in a building of gigantic dimensions that will be the flagship of Parisian modernism.
The visitor will be greeted by four allegories on the front wall. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux is commissioned in 1865 to illustrate the Dance.
Despite his sculpted portraits of officials, Carpeaux is a free creator for whom sculpture must express life in its movement and joy. He designs the composition of the group of dance as a response to the heroic impulse brought in 1836 by Rude in La Marseillaise (The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792) that adorns the Arc de Triomphe.
The extent of Carpeaux's group exceeds the demand of Garnier who decides to accept such an overflow of enthusiasm. A bacchanal of nude female dancers surrounds the male genius of dance who is charming them with his tambourine. When the statue is unveiled in 1869 such an active and merry nudity viewed by any people from the street deeply shocks the rigid morality of the period.
The Franco-Prussian war stops this scandal. According to usual practice Carpeaux and his studio prepare replicas in bronze, terracotta, plaster and marble to be offered for sale. In 1913 a plaster of the Génie de la Danse in same size as the original of the Opéra, 2.20 m high, is sold to Robert de Rothschild.
Another plaster of same size surfaces in 1927 when the artist's daughter sells it to a friend. Mme Clément-Carpeaux then certifies that it is the only plaster example realized on the model of the Rothschild specimen. The date of this replica is not identified. It is currently mounted on a wooden base for an overall height of 3 m.
The Opéra de Paris is a significant witness of the transformation of the French capital under Napoléon III. Selected as its architect, Charles Garnier places this new profane temple of music in a building of gigantic dimensions that will be the flagship of Parisian modernism.
The visitor will be greeted by four allegories on the front wall. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux is commissioned in 1865 to illustrate the Dance.
Despite his sculpted portraits of officials, Carpeaux is a free creator for whom sculpture must express life in its movement and joy. He designs the composition of the group of dance as a response to the heroic impulse brought in 1836 by Rude in La Marseillaise (The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792) that adorns the Arc de Triomphe.
The extent of Carpeaux's group exceeds the demand of Garnier who decides to accept such an overflow of enthusiasm. A bacchanal of nude female dancers surrounds the male genius of dance who is charming them with his tambourine. When the statue is unveiled in 1869 such an active and merry nudity viewed by any people from the street deeply shocks the rigid morality of the period.
The Franco-Prussian war stops this scandal. According to usual practice Carpeaux and his studio prepare replicas in bronze, terracotta, plaster and marble to be offered for sale. In 1913 a plaster of the Génie de la Danse in same size as the original of the Opéra, 2.20 m high, is sold to Robert de Rothschild.
Another plaster of same size surfaces in 1927 when the artist's daughter sells it to a friend. Mme Clément-Carpeaux then certifies that it is the only plaster example realized on the model of the Rothschild specimen. The date of this replica is not identified. It is currently mounted on a wooden base for an overall height of 3 m.
1877 Bouguereau in his Time
2013 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The huge success enjoyed by Bouguereau in his lifetime puzzled Dali to the point that he included him among the top ten artists to whom he endeavoured to compare himself. The result is severe: Bouguereau has a good technique, without inspiration, without beauty, without mystery.
Let us put Bouguereau in his time. We would try in vain to place him in the following of the Romantics. His country girls are poor and barefoot, but neatly dressed, without misery and without history.
Realistic painting must find its way against the competition of photography. It's not that either. At the time of outdoor easels, he is closer to the artificial scenes of the Orientalists. He is a careful professional, the most Academic of French artists.
For his luck, Paul Durand-Ruel early became his merchant. Durand-Ruel also promoted rural scenes by Corot and by the Barbizon painters. He understood that the sentimental Americans liked the memories of their European roots.
Durand-Ruel encourages Bouguereau to produce for his customers the portraits of peasants with non localizable costumes and settings. Countless girls imagined by Bouguereau are similar with no significant differences, same as the Chinese Big Family of Zhang Xiaogang one century later.
Les Deux Soeurs (two sisters) is one of the best works typical of his art, and stages a teenage girl and a baby. This oil on canvas 136 x 79 cm painted in 1877 is estimated $ 1.8 million, for sale by Christie's in New York on April 29.
The huge success enjoyed by Bouguereau in his lifetime puzzled Dali to the point that he included him among the top ten artists to whom he endeavoured to compare himself. The result is severe: Bouguereau has a good technique, without inspiration, without beauty, without mystery.
Let us put Bouguereau in his time. We would try in vain to place him in the following of the Romantics. His country girls are poor and barefoot, but neatly dressed, without misery and without history.
Realistic painting must find its way against the competition of photography. It's not that either. At the time of outdoor easels, he is closer to the artificial scenes of the Orientalists. He is a careful professional, the most Academic of French artists.
For his luck, Paul Durand-Ruel early became his merchant. Durand-Ruel also promoted rural scenes by Corot and by the Barbizon painters. He understood that the sentimental Americans liked the memories of their European roots.
Durand-Ruel encourages Bouguereau to produce for his customers the portraits of peasants with non localizable costumes and settings. Countless girls imagined by Bouguereau are similar with no significant differences, same as the Chinese Big Family of Zhang Xiaogang one century later.
Les Deux Soeurs (two sisters) is one of the best works typical of his art, and stages a teenage girl and a baby. This oil on canvas 136 x 79 cm painted in 1877 is estimated $ 1.8 million, for sale by Christie's in New York on April 29.
1878 Jane in the Underworld
2019 sold for $ 3.5M including premium
In 1857 Rossetti is engaged to Lizzie. That does not stop him from watching the girls. He is dazzled by the beauty of Jane, a tall brunette with fine features and white skin just 18 years old. Entering the Pre-Raphaelite circle, Jane marries William Morris.
Jane is not happy with William but this husband is not jealous. From 1871 Morris and Rossetti lease together a residence in the English countryside. Morris is often traveling, leaving his wife and their two young girls alone with Rossetti.
Rossetti is an artist but he is also a nostalgic poet. He paints Jane as Pandora in 1871, on the theme of beauty that does not prevent the triggering of the curse by a clumsy action. It is probably William who suggests Rossetti to interpret Jane as Proserpine.
This period lasts about three years. Rightly worried about Rossetti's mental health, Jane distances herself from her admirer. Rossetti continues his quest for the expression of misfortune. His Proserpine is caught at the very moment when she frighteningly appreciates that she has just eaten in the forbidden fruit, a pomegranate that she still holds in her fingers.
The realization of the paintings goes badly. Several oils on canvas are damaged, increasing the obsessional attachment of the artist to this theme. The seventh version, 125 x 61 cm, is finally completed in 1874. It is kept at Tate Britain.
Rossetti restarts later without major modification of the composition but by varying the technique. On October 28 in New York, Christie's sells a watercolor and gouache 78 x 38 cm on paper made in 1878, lot 208 estimated $ 3M. No other Proserpine has been painted by Rossetti with this technique. The strong colors anticipate the works on paper by Burne-Jones.
On November 19, 2013 a Proserpine 120 x 56 cm made in colored chalks in 1880 was sold for £ 3.3M including premium by Sotheby's over a lower estimate of £ 1.2M. The artist returns to oil on canvas in 1882 with the final version completed a few weeks before his death.
Jane is not happy with William but this husband is not jealous. From 1871 Morris and Rossetti lease together a residence in the English countryside. Morris is often traveling, leaving his wife and their two young girls alone with Rossetti.
Rossetti is an artist but he is also a nostalgic poet. He paints Jane as Pandora in 1871, on the theme of beauty that does not prevent the triggering of the curse by a clumsy action. It is probably William who suggests Rossetti to interpret Jane as Proserpine.
This period lasts about three years. Rightly worried about Rossetti's mental health, Jane distances herself from her admirer. Rossetti continues his quest for the expression of misfortune. His Proserpine is caught at the very moment when she frighteningly appreciates that she has just eaten in the forbidden fruit, a pomegranate that she still holds in her fingers.
The realization of the paintings goes badly. Several oils on canvas are damaged, increasing the obsessional attachment of the artist to this theme. The seventh version, 125 x 61 cm, is finally completed in 1874. It is kept at Tate Britain.
Rossetti restarts later without major modification of the composition but by varying the technique. On October 28 in New York, Christie's sells a watercolor and gouache 78 x 38 cm on paper made in 1878, lot 208 estimated $ 3M. No other Proserpine has been painted by Rossetti with this technique. The strong colors anticipate the works on paper by Burne-Jones.
On November 19, 2013 a Proserpine 120 x 56 cm made in colored chalks in 1880 was sold for £ 3.3M including premium by Sotheby's over a lower estimate of £ 1.2M. The artist returns to oil on canvas in 1882 with the final version completed a few weeks before his death.
Inspired by classical mythology and reflecting a love triangle that changed British art, #Rossetti’s Proserpine comes to auction on 28 October in #NewYork https://t.co/gEwtU5F44w pic.twitter.com/nfcr7i2V1u
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 9, 2019
1878 Monet in Vétheuil
2013 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Argenteuil was no longer appropriate to meet the artistic requirements of Claude Monet. His search for the expression of landscape made him travel across Normandie. In 1878, he moved to Vétheuil, one of the most charmingvillages in the Seine valley.
He was observing the river, the trees, their colors and reflections. In full possession of his talent, he produced about 150 paintings during his three years at Vetheuil. Unfortunately, the drama was ahead. Camille died shortly after giving birth to Michel, their second son. Vétheuil is Monet's last residence before Giverny.
On April 27 in Miami, Fine Art Auctions Miami sells a typical impressionist riverside painted by Monet in Vetheuil in1878, with a superb range of warm colors and vibrant reflections.
This oil on canvas, 46 x 72 cm, is estimated $ 4M.
Here is the link on LiveAuctioneers.
Argenteuil was no longer appropriate to meet the artistic requirements of Claude Monet. His search for the expression of landscape made him travel across Normandie. In 1878, he moved to Vétheuil, one of the most charmingvillages in the Seine valley.
He was observing the river, the trees, their colors and reflections. In full possession of his talent, he produced about 150 paintings during his three years at Vetheuil. Unfortunately, the drama was ahead. Camille died shortly after giving birth to Michel, their second son. Vétheuil is Monet's last residence before Giverny.
On April 27 in Miami, Fine Art Auctions Miami sells a typical impressionist riverside painted by Monet in Vetheuil in1878, with a superb range of warm colors and vibrant reflections.
This oil on canvas, 46 x 72 cm, is estimated $ 4M.
Here is the link on LiveAuctioneers.
1878 A SCHOLAR IN TOPKAPI
2012 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Ibrahim Edhem Pasha was a Greek who became a slave when he was three years old during the massacres of Chios in 1822. Minister and diplomat in the service of the Sultan, he was constantly in relationship with Europe. Theremarkable career of his son Osman Hamdy Bey certainly owes a lot to such a cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Osman Hamdy spent nine years in Paris at the time when a post-Romantic Orientalism was fashionable. Back in Constantinople in 1869, he developed a highly original art combining the classicism of Gérôme's painting with the intricacies of Islamic culture. Prominent archaeologist, he was an influential patron of the Turkish cultural conservation.
On April 24 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas, 46 x 90 cm, dated 1878. In an atmosphere reminiscent of Topkapi, a young scholar is lying comfortably for studying a sacred text.
Despite its small size, this painting is estimated £ 3M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Familiar with the European art of his time, Osman Hamdy knew to introduce subtle critical observations among theIslamic traditions. His turtle trainer, teaching the animals to wear mosque candles on their shells, is another example.This painting dated 1906 was sold in 2004 YTL 5M at auction.
We have already discussed this outstanding artist in this group: on May 30, 2008, Sotheby's sold £ 3.4 millionincluding premium the lavish portrait of a nice Lady of Constantinople, 185 x 109 cm.
Ibrahim Edhem Pasha was a Greek who became a slave when he was three years old during the massacres of Chios in 1822. Minister and diplomat in the service of the Sultan, he was constantly in relationship with Europe. Theremarkable career of his son Osman Hamdy Bey certainly owes a lot to such a cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Osman Hamdy spent nine years in Paris at the time when a post-Romantic Orientalism was fashionable. Back in Constantinople in 1869, he developed a highly original art combining the classicism of Gérôme's painting with the intricacies of Islamic culture. Prominent archaeologist, he was an influential patron of the Turkish cultural conservation.
On April 24 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas, 46 x 90 cm, dated 1878. In an atmosphere reminiscent of Topkapi, a young scholar is lying comfortably for studying a sacred text.
Despite its small size, this painting is estimated £ 3M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Familiar with the European art of his time, Osman Hamdy knew to introduce subtle critical observations among theIslamic traditions. His turtle trainer, teaching the animals to wear mosque candles on their shells, is another example.This painting dated 1906 was sold in 2004 YTL 5M at auction.
We have already discussed this outstanding artist in this group: on May 30, 2008, Sotheby's sold £ 3.4 millionincluding premium the lavish portrait of a nice Lady of Constantinople, 185 x 109 cm.
1879 In the Box by Mary Cassatt
1996 SOLD for $ 4.1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Passionate about European art, Mary Cassatt settled permanently in France in 1874. Her classical style paintings had been regularly accepted at the Paris Salon since 1868. Her meeting with Degas in 1875 was a turning point in her career.
The leaders of impressionism were promoting the landscape. Alongside Degas and Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt interests the most jaded art critics with her genre scenes and her portraits. She stages the modern woman with a sensitivity increased by her resolutely egalitarian political positions.
From 1878, Mary observed the elegant atmosphere in the boxes of the Paris Opera, without worrying about the show in progress. For these fresh and active young ladies who were then named the débutantes, the Opera offers a much better discretion than the Hippodrome and the cafés. This creative phase was brutally stopped in 1882 by the death of her beloved sister Lydia who had often served as a model for her.
In the Box was prepared just in time for the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879, but too late to be included in the catalog. Two elegant young women in light-colored dresses and white gloves are on the balcony at the Opera. The débutante observes the public through theater binoculars, looking for handsome gentlemen who will certainly desire to admire her. The nascent smile and the fixed gaze attest that she believes having found what she was looking for.
The image is focused on the two women in the foreground, in an off-center composition worthy of Degas. Impressionism in the style of Renoir maintains the realism of faces and expressions.
In the Box, oil on canvas 44 x 62 cm, was sold for $ 4.1M including premium by Christie's on May 23, 1996. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The leaders of impressionism were promoting the landscape. Alongside Degas and Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt interests the most jaded art critics with her genre scenes and her portraits. She stages the modern woman with a sensitivity increased by her resolutely egalitarian political positions.
From 1878, Mary observed the elegant atmosphere in the boxes of the Paris Opera, without worrying about the show in progress. For these fresh and active young ladies who were then named the débutantes, the Opera offers a much better discretion than the Hippodrome and the cafés. This creative phase was brutally stopped in 1882 by the death of her beloved sister Lydia who had often served as a model for her.
In the Box was prepared just in time for the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879, but too late to be included in the catalog. Two elegant young women in light-colored dresses and white gloves are on the balcony at the Opera. The débutante observes the public through theater binoculars, looking for handsome gentlemen who will certainly desire to admire her. The nascent smile and the fixed gaze attest that she believes having found what she was looking for.
The image is focused on the two women in the foreground, in an off-center composition worthy of Degas. Impressionism in the style of Renoir maintains the realism of faces and expressions.
In the Box, oil on canvas 44 x 62 cm, was sold for $ 4.1M including premium by Christie's on May 23, 1996. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1879 THE BATTLE OF TREVINO FROM GLORY TO OBLIVION
2008 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
It is unusual that a consignment for auction is announced 5.5 months in advance. In late May, Sotheby's announced the exhibition for a few days in New York of a painting that will be sold in London on November 12.
It is not old: 1879. It is not very large: 94x170 cm. Its subject is not so rare: a scene of battle. Its author, Francisco Oller y Cestero, is very rare at auction, where he has never registered a high bid. It can not even been said that a high estimate justifies this early exhibition: 340 to 380 K £, exactly the kind of closed estimate which often suggests that the work is already too expensive.
Its originality is to be the work of a Puerto-Rican painter, made during a stay in the court of Spain, never described, and that remained property of the same Spanish family for a hundred years.
I saw and ignored the press release in May. The results of auctions that I have analyzed afterwards show that we must consider with curiosity what looks like quirks of communication by Sotheby's. In my opinion, the auction house had already started to target buyers, Spanish or Puerto Ricans, who may have a reason invisible to the public to take interest in this painting. Its exhibition in New York can not be void of intentions in that way.
This battle of Treviño is an event in 1875 of the very bloody Carlist war. To find a trace of this "truly heroic episode" (as Sotheby's said), the full Encyclopaedia Britannica seems not to be enough.
Let us hope for Sotheby's that the verdict of auction is better than the verdict of history.
It is unusual that a consignment for auction is announced 5.5 months in advance. In late May, Sotheby's announced the exhibition for a few days in New York of a painting that will be sold in London on November 12.
It is not old: 1879. It is not very large: 94x170 cm. Its subject is not so rare: a scene of battle. Its author, Francisco Oller y Cestero, is very rare at auction, where he has never registered a high bid. It can not even been said that a high estimate justifies this early exhibition: 340 to 380 K £, exactly the kind of closed estimate which often suggests that the work is already too expensive.
Its originality is to be the work of a Puerto-Rican painter, made during a stay in the court of Spain, never described, and that remained property of the same Spanish family for a hundred years.
I saw and ignored the press release in May. The results of auctions that I have analyzed afterwards show that we must consider with curiosity what looks like quirks of communication by Sotheby's. In my opinion, the auction house had already started to target buyers, Spanish or Puerto Ricans, who may have a reason invisible to the public to take interest in this painting. Its exhibition in New York can not be void of intentions in that way.
This battle of Treviño is an event in 1875 of the very bloody Carlist war. To find a trace of this "truly heroic episode" (as Sotheby's said), the full Encyclopaedia Britannica seems not to be enough.
Let us hope for Sotheby's that the verdict of auction is better than the verdict of history.
1879-1880 the constructed landscape of paul cézanne
2016 unsold
Influenced by Pissarro, Paul Cézanne tries the Impressionnisme. Art critics do not follow him, even those who are supporting the new trend. He understands that the freedom of the impressionist hand does not fit his intentions but keeps from them the decisive incentive of outdoor painting for expressing the nature.
Cézanne indeed considers that a landscape or a still life is a construction of geometric elements : sphere, cylinder, cone. Houses are cubes. Colors may be excessive if it helps to express a feeling. Modern art is in germ in this profession of faith of an artist often isolated by his difficult temper.
Cézanne was born in Provence, but it took to the quieting of his relationship with his family in 1878 for him to test his theories with the stunning scenery of his native province. The brain controls the hand and his decidedly non impressionistic brush strokes are now composing a dense pattern of slightly oblique lines.
From April 1879 to March 1880 Cézanne lives in Melun. Retrieving the softly waving hills and the villages of Ile de France, he goes forward with his new style.
On November 16 in New York, Christie's sells a landscape with a road and a bell tower painted by Cézanne, lot 23 B estimated $ 10M.
This oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm is neither dated nor localized but the style and theme converge onto the period of Melun. Despite the detailed view of the village the location has not been recognized with certainty. There is no doubt that the work was painted outdoor facing that scenery in a morning against the light.
In the enthusiasm of his pictorial revolution, Cézanne had possibly reinvented that landscape more than it was necessary. While respecting proportions and perspective as Monet was doing, the art of Cézanne leaves resolutely away from any photographic realism.
Cézanne indeed considers that a landscape or a still life is a construction of geometric elements : sphere, cylinder, cone. Houses are cubes. Colors may be excessive if it helps to express a feeling. Modern art is in germ in this profession of faith of an artist often isolated by his difficult temper.
Cézanne was born in Provence, but it took to the quieting of his relationship with his family in 1878 for him to test his theories with the stunning scenery of his native province. The brain controls the hand and his decidedly non impressionistic brush strokes are now composing a dense pattern of slightly oblique lines.
From April 1879 to March 1880 Cézanne lives in Melun. Retrieving the softly waving hills and the villages of Ile de France, he goes forward with his new style.
On November 16 in New York, Christie's sells a landscape with a road and a bell tower painted by Cézanne, lot 23 B estimated $ 10M.
This oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm is neither dated nor localized but the style and theme converge onto the period of Melun. Despite the detailed view of the village the location has not been recognized with certainty. There is no doubt that the work was painted outdoor facing that scenery in a morning against the light.
In the enthusiasm of his pictorial revolution, Cézanne had possibly reinvented that landscape more than it was necessary. While respecting proportions and perspective as Monet was doing, the art of Cézanne leaves resolutely away from any photographic realism.
The Unlucky Muse of James Tissot
2012 SOLD 1.87 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The French artist James Tissot had come to London to paint portraits and scenes of the Victorian high society. This observer of the happy life became however the most unlucky of men.
In 1876, he became madly in love with Kate, a pretty Irish woman aged 22. But the nineteenth century is the terrible time of consumption. Very tired by the disease, Kate committed suicide in 1882.
On May 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas by Tissot, 67 x 97 cm, undated. The theme is poignant. An exhausted young woman is nestled in a carriage pulled by a donkey. A young man looks at her intensely. He wants to act but does not know how. Yet life goes on. The tragic carriage comes through a field of flowers with bright and varied colors in the morning light.
Tissot had remained in contact with the French Impressionists. His best works are certainly influenced by Manet. This one is estimated $ 2M.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is not always easy to sell a painting by Tissot, and tuberculosis has become, fortunately, a particularly outdated theme. Sold $ 1.87 million including premium, this artwork has not reached its estimate.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's, which also discusses two paintings by Boldini.
The French artist James Tissot had come to London to paint portraits and scenes of the Victorian high society. This observer of the happy life became however the most unlucky of men.
In 1876, he became madly in love with Kate, a pretty Irish woman aged 22. But the nineteenth century is the terrible time of consumption. Very tired by the disease, Kate committed suicide in 1882.
On May 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas by Tissot, 67 x 97 cm, undated. The theme is poignant. An exhausted young woman is nestled in a carriage pulled by a donkey. A young man looks at her intensely. He wants to act but does not know how. Yet life goes on. The tragic carriage comes through a field of flowers with bright and varied colors in the morning light.
Tissot had remained in contact with the French Impressionists. His best works are certainly influenced by Manet. This one is estimated $ 2M.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is not always easy to sell a painting by Tissot, and tuberculosis has become, fortunately, a particularly outdated theme. Sold $ 1.87 million including premium, this artwork has not reached its estimate.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's, which also discusses two paintings by Boldini.
James Tissot between France and England
2003 SOLD 1.5 M£ including premium by Christie's
2008 UNSOLD
PRE 2008 SALE DISCUSSION
Sotheby's will meet some difficulties for selling at £ 1 million their star lot of the sale of Victorian and Edwardian Art of July 15 in London.
At number 54, it is an oil on canvas by James Tissot, French painter who had a studio in London and provided a link between the two countries at the time of the Impressionists. The attitudes of his characters are indeed thinking about Manet.
Our painting, rather medium-sized (51 x 34 cm) represents a young woman heavily dressed according to fashion of the time, passing a handkerchief on the front of a fireplace, trying not to dirty her clothes. Her attitude is rigid, and the incongruous dog at her feet adds nothing to the interests of the whole.
Sotheby's, always accurate in the sources, tells us that at its previous passage it was sold at Christie's in 2003. I found it was sold £ 1.5 million costs included, which corresponds to the price of the high estimate of today.
It is long ago that Tissot paintings did not sell at these prices, as an example two of them remained unsold at Sotheby's in New York in October 2006 on an estimate of $ 1.8 million each. The trend of Tissot is therefore toward the decline, it is unlikely that this painting succeeds to counter this trend.
Sotheby's will meet some difficulties for selling at £ 1 million their star lot of the sale of Victorian and Edwardian Art of July 15 in London.
At number 54, it is an oil on canvas by James Tissot, French painter who had a studio in London and provided a link between the two countries at the time of the Impressionists. The attitudes of his characters are indeed thinking about Manet.
Our painting, rather medium-sized (51 x 34 cm) represents a young woman heavily dressed according to fashion of the time, passing a handkerchief on the front of a fireplace, trying not to dirty her clothes. Her attitude is rigid, and the incongruous dog at her feet adds nothing to the interests of the whole.
Sotheby's, always accurate in the sources, tells us that at its previous passage it was sold at Christie's in 2003. I found it was sold £ 1.5 million costs included, which corresponds to the price of the high estimate of today.
It is long ago that Tissot paintings did not sell at these prices, as an example two of them remained unsold at Sotheby's in New York in October 2006 on an estimate of $ 1.8 million each. The trend of Tissot is therefore toward the decline, it is unlikely that this painting succeeds to counter this trend.
THE NAVY OF THE GREEK INDEPENDENCE WARS
2008 SOLD 1.6 M£ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The place occupied by Constantinos Volanakis (1837-1907) on the art market is very tight. Artvalue gives us 51 auction results on this Greek painter. The first 40 in descending price were sold in London, almost all by Sotheby's.
He was primarily a painter of marine, amateur of boats and sea shores, a topic that is often subject to special sales. His works get there very honorable results, and 15 of them have exceeded £ 200 K since this threshold has been crossed in 2003.
Sotheby's published a full press release on an oil on canvas of Volanakis estimated £ 1.5 million for the sale ofLondon on November 11, lot 11. It is very large for this artist, 146 x 219 cm, and its heroic subject is atypical compared with other works recently offered on the market. The sea is covered with tall ships that come together to liberate Athens from the Ottoman occupation.
The scene happens in 1827, and the catalog is full of historical details. Unfortunately the date of the painting is not indicated, but for sure when he painted it this type of war was already outdated. Romanticism could not accommodate the trenches of the Crimean War and Civil War.
The sale of this work is a romantic appeal to Greek patriotism. The painting will remain in Athens during the exhibition and sale (though the hammer is held in London) and the buyer must apply for an export permit if it wants to bring it out of Greece.
POST SALE COMMENT
Greek patriotism has a price, when expressed by a beautiful painting of marine: £ 1.6 million including expenses.
The place occupied by Constantinos Volanakis (1837-1907) on the art market is very tight. Artvalue gives us 51 auction results on this Greek painter. The first 40 in descending price were sold in London, almost all by Sotheby's.
He was primarily a painter of marine, amateur of boats and sea shores, a topic that is often subject to special sales. His works get there very honorable results, and 15 of them have exceeded £ 200 K since this threshold has been crossed in 2003.
Sotheby's published a full press release on an oil on canvas of Volanakis estimated £ 1.5 million for the sale ofLondon on November 11, lot 11. It is very large for this artist, 146 x 219 cm, and its heroic subject is atypical compared with other works recently offered on the market. The sea is covered with tall ships that come together to liberate Athens from the Ottoman occupation.
The scene happens in 1827, and the catalog is full of historical details. Unfortunately the date of the painting is not indicated, but for sure when he painted it this type of war was already outdated. Romanticism could not accommodate the trenches of the Crimean War and Civil War.
The sale of this work is a romantic appeal to Greek patriotism. The painting will remain in Athens during the exhibition and sale (though the hammer is held in London) and the buyer must apply for an export permit if it wants to bring it out of Greece.
POST SALE COMMENT
Greek patriotism has a price, when expressed by a beautiful painting of marine: £ 1.6 million including expenses.
