1877
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Degas Renoir Caillebotte Monet < 1878 Paris
See also : Degas Renoir Caillebotte Monet < 1878 Paris
1877 Gare Saint-Lazare by MONET
1
2018 SOLD for $ 33M by Christie's
Young people of all times are tempted by modern life. Monet is soon disillusioned. He had desired to maintain in Argenteuil his corner of paradise, a residence in the countryside for which the railway is the link with the big city and its progress. Urbanization reaches Argenteuil. He feels the need to take a decision.
In 1876 Monet lost his enthusiasm for Argenteuil. He spends the last months of that year in a more rural atmosphere in Montgeron for the decoration of the Hoschedé residence. Just back from Montgeron he left for Paris with an authorization from the railway administration to work inside the Gare Saint-Lazare.
From January to March 1877 he made a sort of report composed of twelve artworks, four inside the station and eight outside, in varied weather conditions. A passer-by narrated that he saw Claude Monet perched on a stack of crates with his brush in his hand, feverishly waiting for the ambient light to match his expectations.
The choice of this theme is unexpected for this artist but is certainly not a self attempt to be disgusted from the smokes of the city. A better hypothesis is that Monet considered himself as a leader of the new outdoor painting and did not want to be overcome by the urban pictures of Caillebotte and Manet.
Monet painted twelve canvases showing the interior with the platforms or the outside with trains coming or leaving. The result of this creativity is significant. The nauseating smoke of trains mingles with a heavily loaded sky and makes you want to run away.
Indeed when the third exhibition of the Impressionnistes opened in April 1877 his Saint-Lazare series was already completed and it featured prominently in his selection.
His Gares Saint-Lazare will remain forever an unparalleled set. For the very last time he had tried to illustrate the progress. For nearly half a century he will stubbornly devote to landscapes, to monuments and to his garden.
Only one of the twelve paintings, 61 x 81 cm, escapes Monet's pessimism thanks to a bright sunshine. The view is taken towards the double tunnel of the Batignolles. On the left the smoke is a fairly sharp cone. On the right the train has not yet come out and its smoke is diffused in all directions in the square, creating a veil in the atmosphere of clear weather.
In the best tradition of early Impressionnisme, this painting offers an ambience through which we can almost perceive heat and smell. Rockefeller did not make a mistake when he bought it. He liked this artwork very much while noting that the asking price had seemed high. It was sold for $ 33M by Christie's on May 8, 2018, lot 26. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In 1876 Monet lost his enthusiasm for Argenteuil. He spends the last months of that year in a more rural atmosphere in Montgeron for the decoration of the Hoschedé residence. Just back from Montgeron he left for Paris with an authorization from the railway administration to work inside the Gare Saint-Lazare.
From January to March 1877 he made a sort of report composed of twelve artworks, four inside the station and eight outside, in varied weather conditions. A passer-by narrated that he saw Claude Monet perched on a stack of crates with his brush in his hand, feverishly waiting for the ambient light to match his expectations.
The choice of this theme is unexpected for this artist but is certainly not a self attempt to be disgusted from the smokes of the city. A better hypothesis is that Monet considered himself as a leader of the new outdoor painting and did not want to be overcome by the urban pictures of Caillebotte and Manet.
Monet painted twelve canvases showing the interior with the platforms or the outside with trains coming or leaving. The result of this creativity is significant. The nauseating smoke of trains mingles with a heavily loaded sky and makes you want to run away.
Indeed when the third exhibition of the Impressionnistes opened in April 1877 his Saint-Lazare series was already completed and it featured prominently in his selection.
His Gares Saint-Lazare will remain forever an unparalleled set. For the very last time he had tried to illustrate the progress. For nearly half a century he will stubbornly devote to landscapes, to monuments and to his garden.
Only one of the twelve paintings, 61 x 81 cm, escapes Monet's pessimism thanks to a bright sunshine. The view is taken towards the double tunnel of the Batignolles. On the left the smoke is a fairly sharp cone. On the right the train has not yet come out and its smoke is diffused in all directions in the square, creating a veil in the atmosphere of clear weather.
In the best tradition of early Impressionnisme, this painting offers an ambience through which we can almost perceive heat and smell. Rockefeller did not make a mistake when he bought it. He liked this artwork very much while noting that the asking price had seemed high. It was sold for $ 33M by Christie's on May 8, 2018, lot 26. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
2018 SOLD for £ 25M by Christie's
On June 20, 2018, Christie's sold for £ 25M an outdoor view, oil on canvas 61 x 81 cm, lot 25 B. The foreground is intentionally empty to draw a better attention to the background where the thick steam from the trains mingle in a cloudy sky. The two locomotives and the tall arches of the glass roofs of the station provide the illusion of a picturesque instantaneous.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1877 Danseuses en Blanc by Degas
2015 SOLD for $ 17M by Sotheby's
The artistic language is experiencing a profound transformation in the 1870s. Painting is already superseded by photography for the resemblance. Edgar Degas is a great innovator who explores staging, light, shine and motion.
Degas is passionate about dance. He spends much time watching the ballerinas on stage and backstage. He does not admire their body but their flexibility, which is the ease of their limbs to reach extreme angles either in action or at rest.
Inspired by Ingres, Degas was a very good draftsman. He rediscovered pastel as a technique allowing the more vivid colors without impairing the quality of the drawing. Like the pre-impressionists, Degas executed his works in his studio from previous sketches. His spontaneity is in fact the result of a long meticulous work, like Constable's.
The dancer on pointe, pastel and gouache made in 1877, shows a ballerina leaning forward, one leg above the horizontal in a movement for which no effort is apparent. Her imbalanced attitude and the empty space in front of her bring to this graphic work an illusion of motion that is unprecedented in the history of art. The delicacy of the colors anticipates Lautrec.
The young dancer takes the same position in the same colors but now leading a group of four in Danseuses en blanc, pastel and gouache on paper 53 x 65 cm was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015, lot 32T. The four girls play a simultaneous dance step in a bold composition in which no body is seen in its entirety.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's, also introducing the pastel of a nude offered in the same sale.
Degas is passionate about dance. He spends much time watching the ballerinas on stage and backstage. He does not admire their body but their flexibility, which is the ease of their limbs to reach extreme angles either in action or at rest.
Inspired by Ingres, Degas was a very good draftsman. He rediscovered pastel as a technique allowing the more vivid colors without impairing the quality of the drawing. Like the pre-impressionists, Degas executed his works in his studio from previous sketches. His spontaneity is in fact the result of a long meticulous work, like Constable's.
The dancer on pointe, pastel and gouache made in 1877, shows a ballerina leaning forward, one leg above the horizontal in a movement for which no effort is apparent. Her imbalanced attitude and the empty space in front of her bring to this graphic work an illusion of motion that is unprecedented in the history of art. The delicacy of the colors anticipates Lautrec.
The young dancer takes the same position in the same colors but now leading a group of four in Danseuses en blanc, pastel and gouache on paper 53 x 65 cm was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015, lot 32T. The four girls play a simultaneous dance step in a bold composition in which no body is seen in its entirety.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's, also introducing the pastel of a nude offered in the same sale.
1874-1877 RENOIR
1
Sentier dans le Bois
2019 SOLD for £ 12.7M by Christie's
In the early 1860s Monet, Bazille, Sisley and Renoir were students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Gleyre's studio. To escape academism they take their easels for painting outdoors in the forest of Fontainebleau.
Far away from the realism of the landscape painters of Barbizon, they explore new expressions, and especially new uses of colors. The shadow may be other than black, the snow may be other than white. Working on the texture brings a luminous effect.
After the Franco-Prussian war in which they loose Bazille, the young men resume their experiences. The drawing in the style of Manet remains preponderant for the figurative while the details of the greenery are lost in a brilliantly colored fragmentation.
The Salon is increasingly reluctant to this trend that escapes the official good taste. In December 1873 the three friends joined by Pissarro, Degas and Prins create a cooperative society to find a clientele. For their first exhibition in the following year, they rent for one month the workshop of Nadar. With Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin and Rouart among others, they will be forced to accept the pejorative sobriquet of Impressionnistes.
On February 27, 2019, Christie's sold for £ 12.7M from a lower estimate of £ 7M an oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted by Renoir, lot 8.
This sous-bois is composed of a multicolored pattern spotted with shadows and lights and dotted with some realistic details. The perspective effect is assured by the path that goes straight to infinity, punctuated in mid distance by a tiny character who symbolises the human place within the immensity of nature.
In the typical style of the first three Impressionist exhibitions, this undated artwork was certainly painted between 1874 and 1877. It was located by Dauberville in the forest of Fontainebleau.
Far away from the realism of the landscape painters of Barbizon, they explore new expressions, and especially new uses of colors. The shadow may be other than black, the snow may be other than white. Working on the texture brings a luminous effect.
After the Franco-Prussian war in which they loose Bazille, the young men resume their experiences. The drawing in the style of Manet remains preponderant for the figurative while the details of the greenery are lost in a brilliantly colored fragmentation.
The Salon is increasingly reluctant to this trend that escapes the official good taste. In December 1873 the three friends joined by Pissarro, Degas and Prins create a cooperative society to find a clientele. For their first exhibition in the following year, they rent for one month the workshop of Nadar. With Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin and Rouart among others, they will be forced to accept the pejorative sobriquet of Impressionnistes.
On February 27, 2019, Christie's sold for £ 12.7M from a lower estimate of £ 7M an oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted by Renoir, lot 8.
This sous-bois is composed of a multicolored pattern spotted with shadows and lights and dotted with some realistic details. The perspective effect is assured by the path that goes straight to infinity, punctuated in mid distance by a tiny character who symbolises the human place within the immensity of nature.
In the typical style of the first three Impressionist exhibitions, this undated artwork was certainly painted between 1874 and 1877. It was located by Dauberville in the forest of Fontainebleau.
This striking #PierreAugusteRenoir piece finishes above estimate for a £12,691,250 final @ChristiesInc pic.twitter.com/fn2W3yKSwO
— Art Observed (@ArtObserved) February 27, 2019
2
Femmes dans un Jardin
2007 SOLD for $ 12.2M by Sotheby's
An oil on canvas 55 x 65 cm painted by Renoir in the first phase of the Impressionism was sold by Sotheby's on November 7, 2007 for $ 12.2M from a lower estimate of $ 8M, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It looks like a horizontal counterpart to the Sentier dans le bois that was sold for £ 12.7M in 2019, with the same effect of light and shadow in a similar perspective. Despite its title Femmes dans un jardin, the two far away silhouettes in the shadow are almost canceled within the impressionist brushstroke.
It looks like a horizontal counterpart to the Sentier dans le bois that was sold for £ 12.7M in 2019, with the same effect of light and shadow in a similar perspective. Despite its title Femmes dans un jardin, the two far away silhouettes in the shadow are almost canceled within the impressionist brushstroke.
1877 CEZANNE
1
Pommes et Gâteaux
2005 SOLD for $ 10.3M by Christie's
The tabletop was a lifelong theme for Paul Cézanne. Le Pain et les oeufs, oil on canvas 59 x 76 cm in realistic style, had been submitted and rejected for the Salon in 1865 when the artist was 26 years old.
The apples went to be his most recurring still life subject, arranged in different positions from one picture to another for testing the contrasts of colors and the trompe l'oeil of the perspective. Each of these ordinary items finds its role as for a drama. As reported by Gustave Geffroy, Cézanne often repeated : Avec une pomme, je veux étonner Paris.
In 1877 Cézanne exhibited 16 paintings including 3 still lifes at the Troisième Exposition Impressionniste. A trademark of that selection is the red painted signature. It is not by chance that three red signed still life paintings are known.
Pommes et gâteaux is one of them. A compotier of apples and a plate of sweets are arranged on a rustic storage chest through a flowered tablecloth. That chest appearing in several opuses is certainly from the artist's furnishings.
This oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm had been acquired at auction in 1899 by Durand-Ruel for his dining room. From his descent, it was sold for $ 10.3M from a lower estimate of $ 3.5M by Christie's on November 1, 2005, lot 4. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The apples went to be his most recurring still life subject, arranged in different positions from one picture to another for testing the contrasts of colors and the trompe l'oeil of the perspective. Each of these ordinary items finds its role as for a drama. As reported by Gustave Geffroy, Cézanne often repeated : Avec une pomme, je veux étonner Paris.
In 1877 Cézanne exhibited 16 paintings including 3 still lifes at the Troisième Exposition Impressionniste. A trademark of that selection is the red painted signature. It is not by chance that three red signed still life paintings are known.
Pommes et gâteaux is one of them. A compotier of apples and a plate of sweets are arranged on a rustic storage chest through a flowered tablecloth. That chest appearing in several opuses is certainly from the artist's furnishings.
This oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm had been acquired at auction in 1899 by Durand-Ruel for his dining room. From his descent, it was sold for $ 10.3M from a lower estimate of $ 3.5M by Christie's on November 1, 2005, lot 4. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
La Côte Saint-Denis à Pontoise
2017 SOLD for $ 8.6M by Christie's
Paul Cézanne started his career as an admirer and disciple of the 9 year older Pissarro. They frequently painted outside sceneries with their easels side by side, especially during the frequent visits he made to Pissarro's home in Pontoise.
Pissarro persuaded Cézanne to turn away from the darker colors. Cézanne's use of bolder colors plus his temperamental behavior made him considered as an outsider by the impressionists at the time of the groundbreaking 1874 exhibition, where he successfully participated after Manet's withdrawal.
A view of the same scenery of La Côte Saint-Denis near Pissarro's home at Pontoise was executed separately from the hillside down to a few houses by Cézanne and Pissarro. The two artists could friendly compare their styles. Pissarro's is typically impressionist. Cézanne's already features a geometrical approach including straighter trees, flattening the perspective. His colors are added with the knife within strong lines.
La Côte Saint-Denis, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted by Cézanne probably on 1877, was sold for $ 8.6M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Christie's in May 15, 2017, lot 19A. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Pissarro persuaded Cézanne to turn away from the darker colors. Cézanne's use of bolder colors plus his temperamental behavior made him considered as an outsider by the impressionists at the time of the groundbreaking 1874 exhibition, where he successfully participated after Manet's withdrawal.
A view of the same scenery of La Côte Saint-Denis near Pissarro's home at Pontoise was executed separately from the hillside down to a few houses by Cézanne and Pissarro. The two artists could friendly compare their styles. Pissarro's is typically impressionist. Cézanne's already features a geometrical approach including straighter trees, flattening the perspective. His colors are added with the knife within strong lines.
La Côte Saint-Denis, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted by Cézanne probably on 1877, was sold for $ 8.6M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Christie's in May 15, 2017, lot 19A. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
masterpiece
Portrait de Madame Cézanne au Fauteuil Rouge
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Cézanne met Hortense in 1869 when she was a 19 year old part time art school model. She matched the canon of feminine sturdiness of her time. The birth of their son in 1872 had certainly maintained this clandestine couple.
In real life Cézanne focused on his art, with a much limited interest in other people including his partner. When they finally married in 1886, Paul had no longer any feeling for her.
The seminal opus in that series is an oil on canvas 72 x 56 cm painted in 1877 now known as Madame Cézanne au fauteuil rouge. She looks bored, not trying to communicate. The arms folded on the lap certainly inspired the portraits in high backed armchairs by Modigliani and Picasso. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In real life Cézanne focused on his art, with a much limited interest in other people including his partner. When they finally married in 1886, Paul had no longer any feeling for her.
The seminal opus in that series is an oil on canvas 72 x 56 cm painted in 1877 now known as Madame Cézanne au fauteuil rouge. She looks bored, not trying to communicate. The arms folded on the lap certainly inspired the portraits in high backed armchairs by Modigliani and Picasso. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3 bis
Figure de Femme
2025 SOLD for $ 7.4M by Sotheby's
A small bust-length portrait of Hortense, oil on canvas 26.5 x 32 cm, is undeniably an early attempt by Cézanne to apply to portraiture his new conception on planar colors and perspective cancelling. It displays the tilted viewpoint that he will reuse extensively in his still lifes.
The symmetry of the figure is increased by the straight parting of the black hair. The head is slightly bent and the eyes are closed, removing any personal emotion.
It is supposed to have been the Figure de femme entered in 1877 in the 3rd impressionist exhibition, which would date it in the same year as the portrait in a red armchair.
It was sold for $ 7.4M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on May 13, 2025, lot 25. Please listen to the audio shared by the auction house.
The symmetry of the figure is increased by the straight parting of the black hair. The head is slightly bent and the eyes are closed, removing any personal emotion.
It is supposed to have been the Figure de femme entered in 1877 in the 3rd impressionist exhibition, which would date it in the same year as the portrait in a red armchair.
It was sold for $ 7.4M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on May 13, 2025, lot 25. Please listen to the audio shared by the auction house.
#AuctionUpdate: Paul Cézanne’s 'Portrait of Madame Cézanne' closes at $7.4 million during tonight's auction. This is one of 29 portraits that Cézanne painted of his wife throughout their relationship. #SothebysModern pic.twitter.com/djV41odBFK
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 14, 2025
CAILLEBOTTE
1
1876-1877 Sur le Pont de l'Europe
2018 SOLD for $ 8.2M by Christie's
Caillebotte painted two views of the pont de l'Europe.
The close view of the truss, oil on canvas 106 x 130 cm in a nearly monochromatic grey and blue, was executed in 1876, or in early 1877 while Monet was making his series.
An utmost attention is brought to the details of the metalwork. Two bourgeois look at the station through the metallic structure while another man is walking, already half out of view. They are dressed for chilling cold. The steam of a train is visible in the background. The characters and the structure are cropped.
Only one oil sketch is known for the winter view. This highly finished painting in more of half size is certainly the final sketch. This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold by Christie's for $ 4.4M on November 6, 2002, lot 26 and for $ 8.2M on May 15, 2018, lot 23A.
The close view of the truss, oil on canvas 106 x 130 cm in a nearly monochromatic grey and blue, was executed in 1876, or in early 1877 while Monet was making his series.
An utmost attention is brought to the details of the metalwork. Two bourgeois look at the station through the metallic structure while another man is walking, already half out of view. They are dressed for chilling cold. The steam of a train is visible in the background. The characters and the structure are cropped.
Only one oil sketch is known for the winter view. This highly finished painting in more of half size is certainly the final sketch. This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold by Christie's for $ 4.4M on November 6, 2002, lot 26 and for $ 8.2M on May 15, 2018, lot 23A.
1 bis
for reference (finished painting)
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth TX
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1877 Monsieur R
2022 SOLD for £ 6.7M by Sotheby's
From 1860 the wealthy Caillebotte family had a summer residence in Yerres in a neo-Palladian villa that had belonged to Biennais. In this village known in period for his leisure activities, they enjoyed canoeing on the eponymous Yerres river. Gustave executed outdoors nearly 80 landscape painting at Yerres in the 1870s.
The bourgeois required the services of workmen for their life in the city and in their leisure residence. Caillebotte observed the men at work and the details of the gesture. Les Raboteurs (floor planers) is an early example, executed in 1875.
Painted in 1877 in the walled kitchen garden of the family home at Yerres, Les Jardiniers is its counterpart in the countryside. A bare footed man is watering well aligned lettuces with two cans while a helper is waiting for bringing to him two filled cans. The view includes many details of the well maintained garden in late spring, including a row of cloches for the melons, the glazed chests with sloping rooves, the trellis for fruit trees.
Les Jardiniers, oil on canvas 90 x 117 cm, was sold for $ 7M by Christie's on November 17, 2022, lot 58.
Caillebotte used to make family portraits. Painted in 1877, his portrait of Monsieur R. is an exception. The fellow is comfortably relaxing in a sofa in an interior setting which was probably the Caillebotte's salon. The tissue of the sofa, cushion and wall coverings are elegantly matching.
Apart his family name which was Reyre, no information remains about this man which was probably a leisure friend of the family. A pastel executed in the same year of the same man, recognizable by his narrow cheeks and pointed chin, features him in an incongruous city attire while canoeing on the river with a typical boater.
The Portrait de Monsieur R, oil on canvas 81 x 105 cm, was featured on the wall in an 1878 pastel. It was exhibited in 1879 at the 4th exposition impressionniste and was purchased by Mr Reyre to the artist. It was sold for £ 6.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on March 2, 2022, lot 126. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The bourgeois required the services of workmen for their life in the city and in their leisure residence. Caillebotte observed the men at work and the details of the gesture. Les Raboteurs (floor planers) is an early example, executed in 1875.
Painted in 1877 in the walled kitchen garden of the family home at Yerres, Les Jardiniers is its counterpart in the countryside. A bare footed man is watering well aligned lettuces with two cans while a helper is waiting for bringing to him two filled cans. The view includes many details of the well maintained garden in late spring, including a row of cloches for the melons, the glazed chests with sloping rooves, the trellis for fruit trees.
Les Jardiniers, oil on canvas 90 x 117 cm, was sold for $ 7M by Christie's on November 17, 2022, lot 58.
Caillebotte used to make family portraits. Painted in 1877, his portrait of Monsieur R. is an exception. The fellow is comfortably relaxing in a sofa in an interior setting which was probably the Caillebotte's salon. The tissue of the sofa, cushion and wall coverings are elegantly matching.
Apart his family name which was Reyre, no information remains about this man which was probably a leisure friend of the family. A pastel executed in the same year of the same man, recognizable by his narrow cheeks and pointed chin, features him in an incongruous city attire while canoeing on the river with a typical boater.
The Portrait de Monsieur R, oil on canvas 81 x 105 cm, was featured on the wall in an 1878 pastel. It was exhibited in 1879 at the 4th exposition impressionniste and was purchased by Mr Reyre to the artist. It was sold for £ 6.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on March 2, 2022, lot 126. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
