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TITLE:
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La Clairière
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WORK DATE:
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1882
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CATEGORY:
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Paintings
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MATERIALS:
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Oil on canvas
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MARKINGS:
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Signed and dated lower left: H. Harpignies 1882
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SIZE:
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24 x 19.75 inches (61 x 50.2 cm.)
Framed: 32.5 x 28.5 inches (82.5 x 72.2 cm.)
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STYLE:
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Modern
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PRICE*:
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Contact Gallery for Price
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DESCRIPTION:
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Henri Joseph Harpignies, a widely acclaimed landscape artist both in oil and watercolor, was born in Valenciennes on July 28, 1819. Harpignies did not start to paint seriously until the age of 27, when he became a student of Jean Achard, also a landscapist. Under Achard’s tutelage, he traveled to Holland, Brussels, and Flanders to study the northern landscape artists of the 17th century. Shortly after returning to France, he left again, this time for Italy, where he met many of the artists of the Villa Medici in Rome. During this time, he became influenced by the work of Camille Corot. On that trip to Rome, Harpignies executed his first watercolors, which would later be known as his signature medium.
In 1852, Harpignies returned to France to establish his own studio in Paris and met the artists Jean-Léon Gérôme and Jean-Louis Hamon, both of whom were at the beginning of their careers. A year later, he moved outside of Paris to continue painting en plein air, where he met Daubigny, Diaz, Dupré, Millet, and Rousseau—all first-generation members of the Barbizon school—to paint in the countryside near Fontainebleau Forest. In the early years of his career from 1853 through 1856, Harpignies, under the influence of Corot and the Barbizon painter Constant Troyon, experimented with figural compositions, but very quickly shifted his focus to pure landscapes. Harpignies made his Salon debut in 1853, and continued to exhibit regularly thereafter, winning medals in 1866, 1868, and 1869. He received the Legion d’honneur in 1875 and the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle of 1900.
La Clairière is a lovely work by Harpignies. The artist presents the viewer with a view of a forest on a clear autumn day, the bright blue sky visible between the dark golden tones of turning leaves. At the bottom left, a peasant woman stands talking to her small son, arms crossed; she appears to be chastising him. This added human element makes this more interesting than the typical landscape, though the two figures are dominated by the massive trees of the forest surrounding them. The rich palette of this painting and Harpignies’ textural paint application make this a truly beautiful piece, and his aptitude for both figural and landscape work is apparent.
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PROVENANCE:
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Bernheim Jeune et Fils, Paris
M. Knoedler & Co., New York
John Levy Galleries, New York
Kunsthandel M.L. de Boer, Amsterdam
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