1881
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Manet Vétheuil to Giverny Man and woman Historical arms Later Colts Wild West
See also : Manet Vétheuil to Giverny Man and woman Historical arms Later Colts Wild West
masterpiece
1880-1881 Le Déjeuner des Canotiers by Renoir
Phillips collection
From the mid 1870s, Renoir brings a high care to the execution of his paintings, including his masterpiece Le Déjeuner des Canotiers in 1880-1881. In the faces, a realistic delineation supersedes the impressionist strokes, still applied in the surroundings.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
MANET
1
1881 Le Printemps
2014 SOLD for $ 65M by Christie's
The art of Edouard Manet was based on the great masters of the past but his wish to express life and mores of his time generated a lasting misunderstanding. All along two decades, he was rejected in the Salons that were the arbiters of the French official good taste.
Everything begins to change in 1881. His old friend Antonin Proust, close to Gambetta, suggests Manet to produce a series of allegorical paintings on the theme of the four seasons. Manet soaks carefully and slowly within this project.
The first paintings, Spring (Le Printemps) and Autumn, are made within that year. In the following year, studies of amazones show how Manet wanted to express Summer, but he died in 1883 without having worked on Winter. In 1882, Le Printemps and Un Bar aux Folies-Bergères finally provide Manet with a triumph in the Salon.
Spring is a time for renewal, hope and flowers. Manet was inspired by the ideal of the flower-woman played by the very young actress Jeanne Demarsy nicely dressed in flowery clothes in an environment of rhododendrons. Jeanne is seen in profile in the style of the Renaissance but proudly expresses the autonomy of the new woman.
Le Printemps, oil on canvas 74 x 52 cm, was sold for $ 65M from a lower estimate of $ 25M on November 5, 2014 by Christie's, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Everything begins to change in 1881. His old friend Antonin Proust, close to Gambetta, suggests Manet to produce a series of allegorical paintings on the theme of the four seasons. Manet soaks carefully and slowly within this project.
The first paintings, Spring (Le Printemps) and Autumn, are made within that year. In the following year, studies of amazones show how Manet wanted to express Summer, but he died in 1883 without having worked on Winter. In 1882, Le Printemps and Un Bar aux Folies-Bergères finally provide Manet with a triumph in the Salon.
Spring is a time for renewal, hope and flowers. Manet was inspired by the ideal of the flower-woman played by the very young actress Jeanne Demarsy nicely dressed in flowery clothes in an environment of rhododendrons. Jeanne is seen in profile in the style of the Renaissance but proudly expresses the autonomy of the new woman.
Le Printemps, oil on canvas 74 x 52 cm, was sold for $ 65M from a lower estimate of $ 25M on November 5, 2014 by Christie's, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1881 Le Bar aux Folies Bergère, 1st version
2015 SOLD for £ 17M by Sotheby's
Edouard Manet is one of the great experimenters of art in the nineteenth century. In early 1880, his health is deteriorating, generating infirmities in the limbs. This difficulty seems to accelerate his creativity, as if he felt that he had little remaining time to prove that he is one of the top artists.
The inspiration of Manet is modernist, which is clearly visible in the series of Seasons that he will not complete and where he is adapting the classic portraiture to display a modern young woman.
On June 24, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 17M Le bar aux Folies-Bergère, oil on canvas 47 x 56 cm painted in 1881, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The barmaid is positioned before a vast space which is a reflection in a wall mirror, including her own reflection. The exact position of the glass is hardly noticeable. In the background, colors in dots figure a crowd at a show, anticipating altogether Lautrec and abstract art.
This scene that desires to be a counterpart to Las Meninas by Velazquez is troubling in its angles. It was painted in the studio. The man on the right who is visible only in his reflection is the door neighbor. The consistency of his position is explained when we accept to exclude the logical assumption that it he placed just in front of the woman.
Manet wants to create a masterpiece and appreciates that this theme allows it. Painted a few months later, the second and final version 96 x 130 cm marks a come back to a scene in realistic line with a towering girl whose actual model is an employee of the Folies-Bergère, a crowd whose details are visible and some additions like the increased assortment of drinks on the bar and the legs of the trapeze artist that anticipate Chagall.
The inspiration of Manet is modernist, which is clearly visible in the series of Seasons that he will not complete and where he is adapting the classic portraiture to display a modern young woman.
On June 24, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 17M Le bar aux Folies-Bergère, oil on canvas 47 x 56 cm painted in 1881, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The barmaid is positioned before a vast space which is a reflection in a wall mirror, including her own reflection. The exact position of the glass is hardly noticeable. In the background, colors in dots figure a crowd at a show, anticipating altogether Lautrec and abstract art.
This scene that desires to be a counterpart to Las Meninas by Velazquez is troubling in its angles. It was painted in the studio. The man on the right who is visible only in his reflection is the door neighbor. The consistency of his position is explained when we accept to exclude the logical assumption that it he placed just in front of the woman.
Manet wants to create a masterpiece and appreciates that this theme allows it. Painted a few months later, the second and final version 96 x 130 cm marks a come back to a scene in realistic line with a towering girl whose actual model is an employee of the Folies-Bergère, a crowd whose details are visible and some additions like the increased assortment of drinks on the bar and the legs of the trapeze artist that anticipate Chagall.
3
masterpiece
1881-1882 Le Bar aux Folies Bergère, 2nd version
Institut Courtauld's
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
4
1881 Le Banc
1990 SOLD for $ 16.5M by Christie's
Le Banc, subtitled Le Jardin de Versailles, is a view of a trellised garden painted by Manet in 1881. This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 16.5M by Christie's on May 15, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1881 Alice au Jardin by Monet
2014 SOLD for $ 34M by Sotheby's
The untimely death of Camille in 1879 rushes Alice Hoschedé into the arms of Monet.
In 1881 he features Alice in the garden of Vétheuil. He remembers the time when the white dress of Camille was expressing purity. Alice is quietly sewing in a rich surrounding of foliage. The sunlight filtering through a large tree provides a continuity in texture between the green and the woman in light blue.
This oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm was sold for $ 34M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 29.
That year marks the peak and the end of the first impressionist period of Monet. He is watched by scandal when he can no longer hide his affair with Alice, a married woman. In the following year, his long lonesome trip in Normandy makes him wish to express the variations of light in the landscape at various times of the day.
Monet moved further away from Paris. He settled in 1883 in Giverny with Alice and the eight children of this recomposed family. The difficult period that followed the death of Camille is finally over. Claude married Alice in 1892, after the death of Hoschedé.
In 1881 he features Alice in the garden of Vétheuil. He remembers the time when the white dress of Camille was expressing purity. Alice is quietly sewing in a rich surrounding of foliage. The sunlight filtering through a large tree provides a continuity in texture between the green and the woman in light blue.
This oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm was sold for $ 34M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 29.
That year marks the peak and the end of the first impressionist period of Monet. He is watched by scandal when he can no longer hide his affair with Alice, a married woman. In the following year, his long lonesome trip in Normandy makes him wish to express the variations of light in the landscape at various times of the day.
Monet moved further away from Paris. He settled in 1883 in Giverny with Alice and the eight children of this recomposed family. The difficult period that followed the death of Camille is finally over. Claude married Alice in 1892, after the death of Hoschedé.
1881 Huafeng People's Wishes to Emperor Yao by Ren Bonian
2011 SOLD for RMB 167M by Xiling Yinshe
Working in Shanghai, Ren Bonian aka Ren Yi is a painter of portraits, birds, flowers, fruit, landscapes and narrative figures, influenced by Song dynasty artists and later by Zhu Da. He was noted for his bold brushstrokes and use of color.
His paintings feature immortals and popular heroes instead of the more hermetic themes of the literati.
Huafeng people's wishes to the Emperor Yao was executed in 1881 for presentation to a wealthy Shanghai businessman. This folktale stages the legendary emperor Yao during an inspection tour in the mountains and jungles of Hua Feng area. The people give three wishes to Yao, but Yao declines three times.
This ink and color on silk 212 x 106 cm is Ren's largest work. It was sold for RMB 167M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by Xiling Yinshe on July 16, 2011, lot 164.
His paintings feature immortals and popular heroes instead of the more hermetic themes of the literati.
Huafeng people's wishes to the Emperor Yao was executed in 1881 for presentation to a wealthy Shanghai businessman. This folktale stages the legendary emperor Yao during an inspection tour in the mountains and jungles of Hua Feng area. The people give three wishes to Yao, but Yao declines three times.
This ink and color on silk 212 x 106 cm is Ren's largest work. It was sold for RMB 167M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by Xiling Yinshe on July 16, 2011, lot 164.
1881 Chemin Montant by Caillebotte
2019 SOLD for £ 16.7M by Christie's
Martial Caillebotte was a cloth merchant who had amassed a considerable fortune as a supplier of the armies of Napoléon III. His sons did not need to work for living.
Gustave Caillebotte enjoyed rowing, sailing, painting, gardening. In 1875 a painting showing workmen is refused by the Salon : the subject cannot please the bourgeois. In response, the young artist undertakes to support the Impressionnistes. He will even be an indefectible guarantor of a certain authenticity of the early impressionist style.
Gustave is skilled. The sharp line from his beginnings gives way to a real impressionist brushstroke. In bold compositions, he studies the effects of diving and counter-diving.
He spends several summers near Trouville, the seaside village that offers its nautical pleasures and social entertainment to wealthy Parisians housed in grands hôtels and opulent villas.
Chemin montant, oil on canvas 100 x 125 cm painted in 1881, was sold by Christie's for $ 6.7M on November 4, 2003 and for £ 16.7M on February 27, 2019, lot 28. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A man and a woman are seen from behind, at the edge between the shadow and a bright summer sun. They move slowly, at the same level, without worrying about each other. They are not recognizable, probably to protect the anonymity of the very young woman who will henceforth share the life of the artist. The connoisseurs of the ancient Trouville recognize on the left side the Villa Italienne which was bordered by a steep path.
The artwork is painted in the full Impressionniste maturity of Caillebotte, probably in his studio from sketches. The path is leveled for a better opening onto the wooded horizon. The color balance is carefully constructed, with the yellow of the hat and the blue of gown and sky echoing the green of the vegetation while being embellished with the red-orange spots of the shutters and the sunshade.
Gustave Caillebotte enjoyed rowing, sailing, painting, gardening. In 1875 a painting showing workmen is refused by the Salon : the subject cannot please the bourgeois. In response, the young artist undertakes to support the Impressionnistes. He will even be an indefectible guarantor of a certain authenticity of the early impressionist style.
Gustave is skilled. The sharp line from his beginnings gives way to a real impressionist brushstroke. In bold compositions, he studies the effects of diving and counter-diving.
He spends several summers near Trouville, the seaside village that offers its nautical pleasures and social entertainment to wealthy Parisians housed in grands hôtels and opulent villas.
Chemin montant, oil on canvas 100 x 125 cm painted in 1881, was sold by Christie's for $ 6.7M on November 4, 2003 and for £ 16.7M on February 27, 2019, lot 28. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A man and a woman are seen from behind, at the edge between the shadow and a bright summer sun. They move slowly, at the same level, without worrying about each other. They are not recognizable, probably to protect the anonymity of the very young woman who will henceforth share the life of the artist. The connoisseurs of the ancient Trouville recognize on the left side the Villa Italienne which was bordered by a steep path.
The artwork is painted in the full Impressionniste maturity of Caillebotte, probably in his studio from sketches. The path is leveled for a better opening onto the wooded horizon. The color balance is carefully constructed, with the yellow of the hat and the blue of gown and sky echoing the green of the vegetation while being embellished with the red-orange spots of the shutters and the sunshade.
1881 Après le Déjeuner by Morisot
2013 SOLD for £ 7M by Christie's
Berthe Morisot very early frequented the circle of artists in rebellion against the academic art who would become the Impressionnistes and was the sister-in-law of Edouard Manet. Her enthusiastic and dynamic style is both original and intimate. She favors family scenes, with a happy sensitivity.
From 1880 Berthe and her husband Eugène Manet rent a house with a garden in Bougival to spend the summers there. At that time she was with Mary Cassatt the symbol of the renewal of impressionism by women. She juxtaposes a sharp line close to Edouard Manet with spots of vibrant colors in the style of Renoir and the light tones of Corot.
Après le déjeuner features a young woman named Marie in the sun porch of Bougival. The portrait of this friend of the family is clear and delicate, contrasting with the free mingling of flowers in the garden. The title and the colors evoke a beautiful summer afternoon.
This oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm painted in 1881 was sold for £ 7M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Christie's on February 6, 2013, lot 11. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Dans la Véranda, oil on canvas of the same size, was painted in 1884 in the same place, with the same accessories and the same surrounding : the table, the carafe, the lush flowers of the garden beyond the windows. Here the character is the child Julie Manet, the daughter of Berthe and Eugène, born in 1878, who is the favorite model of her mother's late career. This painting was sold for $ 2.5M by Christie's on May 14, 2015, lot 36C.
From 1880 Berthe and her husband Eugène Manet rent a house with a garden in Bougival to spend the summers there. At that time she was with Mary Cassatt the symbol of the renewal of impressionism by women. She juxtaposes a sharp line close to Edouard Manet with spots of vibrant colors in the style of Renoir and the light tones of Corot.
Après le déjeuner features a young woman named Marie in the sun porch of Bougival. The portrait of this friend of the family is clear and delicate, contrasting with the free mingling of flowers in the garden. The title and the colors evoke a beautiful summer afternoon.
This oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm painted in 1881 was sold for £ 7M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Christie's on February 6, 2013, lot 11. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Dans la Véranda, oil on canvas of the same size, was painted in 1884 in the same place, with the same accessories and the same surrounding : the table, the carafe, the lush flowers of the garden beyond the windows. Here the character is the child Julie Manet, the daughter of Berthe and Eugène, born in 1878, who is the favorite model of her mother's late career. This painting was sold for $ 2.5M by Christie's on May 14, 2015, lot 36C.
#BertheMorisot's Après le déjeuner is a historic painting, considered by many of her contemporaries to be 'l'impressioniste par excellence'. Her works from this period combine a rich variation of brushstrokes with a sophisticated mastery of colour #IWD2020 https://t.co/uLq1EwZsvz pic.twitter.com/qLTANrgq5S
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 4, 2020
(1880)-1881 the Colt that killed Billy the Kid
2021 SOLD for $ 6M by Bonhams
From 1878 in New Mexico, the Lincoln County War is a conflict without mercy between gangs for the control of cattle and horses. The very young Billy the Kid, a robber from the age of 16, a murderer for any reason and a federal fugitive, went to be one of these gang leaders. He used several names in his short life, all of them in relation with his family.
In November 1880, Pat Garrett is elected sheriff of the county. Although his term was to begin on January 1, he immediately obtains a commission to pursue Billy the Kid within the limits of the county. On December 13 a $ 500 bounty is posted by the governor for the capture of the outlaw.
On December 23 Billy the Kid and his whole gang are captured by Garrett and his men. Sentenced to hang, Billy escapes from custody on April 28. While in jail his notoriety had raised through the local gazettes.
Garrett is not yet awarded with the bounty. On July 14, in search for the fugitive, he discusses the issue with a ranch owner. Around midnight a man enters the room in the dark. Garrett will state that he had recognized the voice of Billy the Kid. He fires twice and kills the man.
The revolver that killed Billy the Kid is a Colt Single Action Army made in 1880, taken near new by Garrett when he arrested the gang on November 23. It was sold for $ 6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Bonhams on August 27, 2021, lot 11.
The corpse was certified by the local justice of the peace but the reward was not paid to Garrett. He managed to respond to the rumors that he had been unfair. His biographical account of Billy the Kid co-authored by an itinerant journalist was considered as factual in period. It contributed to transform that ferocious but enigmatic desperado into the major folk hero of the Wild West.
A doubt still subsists on who was killed by Garrett on July 14. On July 28 a local newspaper reported that the outlaw had allowed his beard to grow and had stained his skin brown to look like a Mexican. Dead or alive, the mythic gang leader never resumed his criminal industry.
In November 1880, Pat Garrett is elected sheriff of the county. Although his term was to begin on January 1, he immediately obtains a commission to pursue Billy the Kid within the limits of the county. On December 13 a $ 500 bounty is posted by the governor for the capture of the outlaw.
On December 23 Billy the Kid and his whole gang are captured by Garrett and his men. Sentenced to hang, Billy escapes from custody on April 28. While in jail his notoriety had raised through the local gazettes.
Garrett is not yet awarded with the bounty. On July 14, in search for the fugitive, he discusses the issue with a ranch owner. Around midnight a man enters the room in the dark. Garrett will state that he had recognized the voice of Billy the Kid. He fires twice and kills the man.
The revolver that killed Billy the Kid is a Colt Single Action Army made in 1880, taken near new by Garrett when he arrested the gang on November 23. It was sold for $ 6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Bonhams on August 27, 2021, lot 11.
The corpse was certified by the local justice of the peace but the reward was not paid to Garrett. He managed to respond to the rumors that he had been unfair. His biographical account of Billy the Kid co-authored by an itinerant journalist was considered as factual in period. It contributed to transform that ferocious but enigmatic desperado into the major folk hero of the Wild West.
A doubt still subsists on who was killed by Garrett on July 14. On July 28 a local newspaper reported that the outlaw had allowed his beard to grow and had stained his skin brown to look like a Mexican. Dead or alive, the mythic gang leader never resumed his criminal industry.
1880-1881 Quatre Pommes by Cézanne
2021 SOLD for $ 5.1M by Christie's
Poires dans une assiette blanche, oil on canvas 18.5 x 38 cm, belongs to Cézanne's Melun period by its unusual elongated format and the strong geometry departing from impressionism. The dark background is echoed by the shadows of a fruit on the plate edge and of the plate on the table. The three pears display subtle complementary hues within the green. It was sold for $ 6.8M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 45A.
In the follow of the Melun series, Cézanne tries representing the unbalance. Quatre pommes features four apples in a chance arrangement upon a tilted tabletop, without providing an explanation on why these fruit are not rolling down.
This oil on an elongated canvas format 21 x 34.4 cm painted probably in Paris in 1880-1881 was sold for $ 5.1M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 25C.
In the follow of the Melun series, Cézanne tries representing the unbalance. Quatre pommes features four apples in a chance arrangement upon a tilted tabletop, without providing an explanation on why these fruit are not rolling down.
This oil on an elongated canvas format 21 x 34.4 cm painted probably in Paris in 1880-1881 was sold for $ 5.1M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 25C.
1881 Three Girls by Homer
2007 SOLD for $ 4.5M by Sotheby's
Winslow Homer begins his career as an illustrator for magazines during the US Civil War. He is more interested in the daily life of soldiers than in military events. He is in Paris during the Universal Exhibition of 1867 and is most certainly influenced by the social realism of Courbet.
Homer crosses the Atlantic again in 1881. Far from the noise of the cities, he settles in a fishing village near the Tyne estuary, in the north-east of England, where he stays for two years. He is seduced by the preservation of a humble ancestral lifestyle and more particularly by the work of the girls.
The fishermen's daughters are active throughout the day and their role is vital for the village. They prepare the boat, sew up the nets, collect crabs, mussels and worms on the beach, unload the boat, carry the fish to the market while the fishermen are resting. They are young, strong, healthy and tanned.
Homer's work in Tynemouth is in some way an ethnological report, objective and without sentimentality or narration. He adopted the practice of English travelers of making sketches outdoors before painting the final work in the studio and abandoned oil painting for watercolors.
On November 28, 2007, Sotheby's sold for $ 4.5M a watercolor on paper 36 x 51 cm painted in 1881. In a yard, three girls repair baskets and nets and clean boots. A rooster and a hen are pecking.
A watercolor of same size and year passed at Sotheby's on December 11, 2020, lot 16. On the beach, two barefoot girls look into the distance to watch for the return of fishing. Their big baskets are still empty.
On May 9, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 4.6M a watercolor of the same size painted in 1883. Three girls climbed the cliff to better watch the return of the boats.
Homer crosses the Atlantic again in 1881. Far from the noise of the cities, he settles in a fishing village near the Tyne estuary, in the north-east of England, where he stays for two years. He is seduced by the preservation of a humble ancestral lifestyle and more particularly by the work of the girls.
The fishermen's daughters are active throughout the day and their role is vital for the village. They prepare the boat, sew up the nets, collect crabs, mussels and worms on the beach, unload the boat, carry the fish to the market while the fishermen are resting. They are young, strong, healthy and tanned.
Homer's work in Tynemouth is in some way an ethnological report, objective and without sentimentality or narration. He adopted the practice of English travelers of making sketches outdoors before painting the final work in the studio and abandoned oil painting for watercolors.
On November 28, 2007, Sotheby's sold for $ 4.5M a watercolor on paper 36 x 51 cm painted in 1881. In a yard, three girls repair baskets and nets and clean boots. A rooster and a hen are pecking.
A watercolor of same size and year passed at Sotheby's on December 11, 2020, lot 16. On the beach, two barefoot girls look into the distance to watch for the return of fishing. Their big baskets are still empty.
On May 9, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 4.6M a watercolor of the same size painted in 1883. Three girls climbed the cliff to better watch the return of the boats.
