1883
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Cézanne Seurat Orientalism Orientalism 1830-1900
See also : Cézanne Seurat Orientalism Orientalism 1830-1900
CEZANNE
1
1883-1885 L'Estaque aux Toits Rouges
2021 SOLD for $ 55M by Christie's
The impressionist solutions are no longer suitable to Paul Cézanne. He comes back to Provence with the aim of expressing the quintessence and the warmth of the most beautiful Mediterranean landscapes.
L'Estaque is one of his first choices, prompted by memories from his youth when his mother had rented a cottage for summer holidays. From the top of the hill and beyond the houses, the bay and the islands of Marseille offer a vast and sumptuous panorama.
In the early 1880s Cézanne rents a small house in L'Estaque, away from his family left to live in Aix. He works outdoor like the Impressionnistes, but his synthetic and cloisonné analysis of shapes and colors is paving the way for the 20th century art. He is already meticulously in quest of the perfection of colors in their whole range. He manages to provide to the viewer a sensation instead of a mere copy of the landscape.
Painted in that early phase between 1883 and 1885, L'Estaque aux toits rouges is a significant demonstrator of these fertile experiments. In this panoramic view from the top of the hill, the contrast is striking between the geometric pattern of sun bathed houses with no shadow and the blue hues of sky and sea.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 55M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 10C. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Paul Cézanne's (1839-1906) 'L'Estaque aux toits rouges' fetched $55,320,000 at auction. Exhibited only once since it was painted, this work is one of the culminating works of a surge of creativity the artist had in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
L'Estaque is one of his first choices, prompted by memories from his youth when his mother had rented a cottage for summer holidays. From the top of the hill and beyond the houses, the bay and the islands of Marseille offer a vast and sumptuous panorama.
In the early 1880s Cézanne rents a small house in L'Estaque, away from his family left to live in Aix. He works outdoor like the Impressionnistes, but his synthetic and cloisonné analysis of shapes and colors is paving the way for the 20th century art. He is already meticulously in quest of the perfection of colors in their whole range. He manages to provide to the viewer a sensation instead of a mere copy of the landscape.
Painted in that early phase between 1883 and 1885, L'Estaque aux toits rouges is a significant demonstrator of these fertile experiments. In this panoramic view from the top of the hill, the contrast is striking between the geometric pattern of sun bathed houses with no shadow and the blue hues of sky and sea.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 55M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 10C. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Paul Cézanne's (1839-1906) 'L'Estaque aux toits rouges' fetched $55,320,000 at auction. Exhibited only once since it was painted, this work is one of the culminating works of a surge of creativity the artist had in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
- Christie's post announces the November 2021 sale of Paul Cézanne's 1883-85 landscape 'L'Estaque aux toits rouges' for $55.32 million, achieving the upper estimate from the Edwin Cox collection.
- The oil painting depicts the Provençal village of L'Estaque with its red-tiled roofs, Mediterranean sea, and pine trees, showcasing Cézanne's innovative fusion of Impressionist color with proto-Cubist geometry during a creative surge in the early 1880s.
- Rarely seen publicly—exhibited only once since creation—this work underscores Cézanne's auction dominance, with his paintings totaling over $1 billion in sales, reflecting sustained demand for his foundational modernist contributions.
2
1882-1883 L'Aqueduc du Canal du Verdon
2023 SOLD for £ 7.2M by Christie's
A landscape painted by Cézanne was sold for £ 7.2M by Christie's on February 28, 2023, lot 30, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm.
The very long aqueduct at mid distance is a part of the canal du Verdon, completed in 1875 for supplying water to the city of Aix. The view is realistic, with tiny elements confirming this location. A date around 1882-1883 is plausible.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The very long aqueduct at mid distance is a part of the canal du Verdon, completed in 1875 for supplying water to the city of Aix. The view is realistic, with tiny elements confirming this location. A date around 1882-1883 is plausible.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1883 Antony and Cleopatra by Alma-Tadema
2011 SOLD for $ 29 M$ by Sotheby's
The Dutch artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema moved to England in 1870. Taking advantage of the pre-Raphaelite fashion for ancient themes, he spent the rest of his career there. His business was flourishing and meticulously managed, and he was covered with honors in Victorian and Edwardian England.
Alma-Tadema paints the antique passions, with a sharp drawing and bright colors that evoke the Orient. He depicts the most beautiful women and their lovers, languid to the limits of debauchery. He surrounds them with luxurious objects for which he accumulates a strong documentation through his trips to Greco-Roman sites, his visits to museums and his abundant collection of photographs.
In 1883 Alma-Tadema is inspired by Shakespeare's play to paint the First meeting of Antony and Cleopatra for a private commission. The queen displays her beauty as in a window, in a barge covered with a canopy. The lover docks in a sort of gondola driven by Roman soldiers. Between the two, a slave girl plays the flute.
The composition is bold, letting see through the boats the sea and some elements of antique architecture. According to historians, this scene took place in Tarsus in 41 BCE. Never mind : it especially gives Victorian England the envy of the scandalous pleasures which indulgently appealed the greatest characters of antiquity.
This Antony and Cleopatra is the opus CCXLVI in the chronological list maintained by Alma-Tadema for avoiding counterfeits. This oil on panel 66 x 91 cm was sold for $ 29M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2011 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 65. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The display of an instant effect into a dramatic action is a specialty of Alma-Tadema and will influence the scenarios and even some framings of the cinema. He is in some way an orientalist precursor of Norman Rockwell.
Alma-Tadema paints the antique passions, with a sharp drawing and bright colors that evoke the Orient. He depicts the most beautiful women and their lovers, languid to the limits of debauchery. He surrounds them with luxurious objects for which he accumulates a strong documentation through his trips to Greco-Roman sites, his visits to museums and his abundant collection of photographs.
In 1883 Alma-Tadema is inspired by Shakespeare's play to paint the First meeting of Antony and Cleopatra for a private commission. The queen displays her beauty as in a window, in a barge covered with a canopy. The lover docks in a sort of gondola driven by Roman soldiers. Between the two, a slave girl plays the flute.
The composition is bold, letting see through the boats the sea and some elements of antique architecture. According to historians, this scene took place in Tarsus in 41 BCE. Never mind : it especially gives Victorian England the envy of the scandalous pleasures which indulgently appealed the greatest characters of antiquity.
This Antony and Cleopatra is the opus CCXLVI in the chronological list maintained by Alma-Tadema for avoiding counterfeits. This oil on panel 66 x 91 cm was sold for $ 29M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2011 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 65. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The display of an instant effect into a dramatic action is a specialty of Alma-Tadema and will influence the scenarios and even some framings of the cinema. He is in some way an orientalist precursor of Norman Rockwell.
1883-1884 SEURAT
1
Clowns et Poney
2025 SOLD for $ 4.9M by Sotheby's
Clowns et Poney, conté crayon drawing and estampe on paper 31.6 x 24.4 cm executed by Seurat in 1883-1884, was sold for $ 4.9M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on November 20, 2025, lot 112.
Asking Grok to define from that early drawing the significance of circus themes in the artist's career.
Description of the Drawing
Clowns et poney (Clowns and Pony), a conté crayon drawing on textured paper executed by Georges Seurat around 1882–1884, captures a dynamic sidewalk parade outside a circus tent. The composition features a central white pony, adorned with a striped cloth, flanked by two exaggerated clowns in traditional attire—one blowing a trumpet, the other gesturing dramatically—alongside a mustachioed ringmaster and a barefoot boy. Rendered in Seurat's signature monochromatic technique, the work employs subtle tonal gradations and cross-hatching to evoke artificial gaslight illumination, heightening the sense of nocturnal spectacle and movement. Measuring approximately 31.4 x 23.5 cm, this early study exemplifies Seurat's meticulous preparatory approach, blending observation with emerging theoretical concerns for form and rhythm.
Significance of Circus Themes in Seurat's Career
The circus motif, recurring throughout Seurat's brief oeuvre (1859–1891), served as a multifaceted vehicle for his artistic evolution, from naturalistic observation in his early black-and-white drawings to the scientific rigor of Neo-Impressionism (or Pointillism) in his mature paintings. Far from mere genre scenes, these works engaged with the social vibrancy of late-19th-century Paris—where circuses like the Cirque Fernando and Corvi drew working-class crowds to boulevards and fairgrounds—while allowing Seurat to experiment with light, color theory, emotional resonance, and compositional harmony. Clowns et poney, as an early exemplar, underscores the theme's foundational role, bridging Seurat's initial explorations of urban leisure with his later systematic innovations.
Early Foundations: Observation and Monochrome Studies (1882–1885)
In the early 1880s, shortly after completing his formal training at the École des Beaux-Arts, Seurat shifted from academic exercises to plein-air sketching of contemporary life, including popular entertainments. The circus, with its blend of spectacle, performance, and marginal figures (clowns, acrobats, and equestrians), appealed to his interest in the "modernity" championed by contemporaries like Manet and the Impressionists. Clowns et poney—likely sketched from life during a street parade—demonstrates this phase's emphasis on tonal modeling and atmospheric effects. Using conté crayon on Michallet paper, Seurat achieves a velvety depth that mimics gaslit ambiance, with the pony's form emerging from swirling shadows and the clowns' gestures conveying rhythmic energy. This drawing, dated to circa 1882–83, prefigures his broader fascination with "parades" (sideshows enticing crowds), as noted in exhibition catalogs where it is retitled Une Parade: Clowns et poney.
Circus themes here signify Seurat's democratic gaze: he elevates everyday performers without sentimentality, aligning with Naturalist influences (e.g., Degas's circus etchings) while hinting at social commentary on labor and leisure in industrial Paris. Such works, including related sketches of clowns and equestrians, reflect his hundreds of preparatory drawings—over 500 survive—prioritizing structure over color, a deliberate step toward abstraction. By 1884, these monochrome studies informed larger compositions like Bathers at Asnières, where circus-derived poses (e.g., poised figures) introduce serialized, frieze-like arrangements.
Asking Grok to define from that early drawing the significance of circus themes in the artist's career.
Description of the Drawing
Clowns et poney (Clowns and Pony), a conté crayon drawing on textured paper executed by Georges Seurat around 1882–1884, captures a dynamic sidewalk parade outside a circus tent. The composition features a central white pony, adorned with a striped cloth, flanked by two exaggerated clowns in traditional attire—one blowing a trumpet, the other gesturing dramatically—alongside a mustachioed ringmaster and a barefoot boy. Rendered in Seurat's signature monochromatic technique, the work employs subtle tonal gradations and cross-hatching to evoke artificial gaslight illumination, heightening the sense of nocturnal spectacle and movement. Measuring approximately 31.4 x 23.5 cm, this early study exemplifies Seurat's meticulous preparatory approach, blending observation with emerging theoretical concerns for form and rhythm.
Significance of Circus Themes in Seurat's Career
The circus motif, recurring throughout Seurat's brief oeuvre (1859–1891), served as a multifaceted vehicle for his artistic evolution, from naturalistic observation in his early black-and-white drawings to the scientific rigor of Neo-Impressionism (or Pointillism) in his mature paintings. Far from mere genre scenes, these works engaged with the social vibrancy of late-19th-century Paris—where circuses like the Cirque Fernando and Corvi drew working-class crowds to boulevards and fairgrounds—while allowing Seurat to experiment with light, color theory, emotional resonance, and compositional harmony. Clowns et poney, as an early exemplar, underscores the theme's foundational role, bridging Seurat's initial explorations of urban leisure with his later systematic innovations.
Early Foundations: Observation and Monochrome Studies (1882–1885)
In the early 1880s, shortly after completing his formal training at the École des Beaux-Arts, Seurat shifted from academic exercises to plein-air sketching of contemporary life, including popular entertainments. The circus, with its blend of spectacle, performance, and marginal figures (clowns, acrobats, and equestrians), appealed to his interest in the "modernity" championed by contemporaries like Manet and the Impressionists. Clowns et poney—likely sketched from life during a street parade—demonstrates this phase's emphasis on tonal modeling and atmospheric effects. Using conté crayon on Michallet paper, Seurat achieves a velvety depth that mimics gaslit ambiance, with the pony's form emerging from swirling shadows and the clowns' gestures conveying rhythmic energy. This drawing, dated to circa 1882–83, prefigures his broader fascination with "parades" (sideshows enticing crowds), as noted in exhibition catalogs where it is retitled Une Parade: Clowns et poney.
Circus themes here signify Seurat's democratic gaze: he elevates everyday performers without sentimentality, aligning with Naturalist influences (e.g., Degas's circus etchings) while hinting at social commentary on labor and leisure in industrial Paris. Such works, including related sketches of clowns and equestrians, reflect his hundreds of preparatory drawings—over 500 survive—prioritizing structure over color, a deliberate step toward abstraction. By 1884, these monochrome studies informed larger compositions like Bathers at Asnières, where circus-derived poses (e.g., poised figures) introduce serialized, frieze-like arrangements.
2
Study for Une Baignade à Asnières
2015 SOLD for £ 7.8M by Sotheby's
Georges Seurat was a great experimenter of the artistic language and the first post-impressionist. During his short career, he produced six great paintings, beginning with La Baignade à Asnières (Bathers at Asnières) in 1884.
As Constable, Seurat built his composition in successive stages, with many preparatory drawings and paintings. He was the most innovative draughtsman of his time, mixing the subject and the background by blurring the edges. Like the Impressionists, he removes the line while strictly maintaining shapes, proportions and perspectives.
On February 3, 2015, Sotheby's sold at lot 13 for £ 7.8M from a lower estimate of £ 5M a drawing for the nude of a young boy which is one of the earliest studies for La Baignade. This drawing in conté pencil on paper, 32 x 24 cm, may have been executed as early as 1883.
The boy is viewed in profile with a detailed anatomy. His attitude of cry for echo was kept unchanged in the full size version where he is the bather in the foreground with shorts. The drawing offered a chiaroscuro effect that has not been used in the painting.
As Constable, Seurat built his composition in successive stages, with many preparatory drawings and paintings. He was the most innovative draughtsman of his time, mixing the subject and the background by blurring the edges. Like the Impressionists, he removes the line while strictly maintaining shapes, proportions and perspectives.
On February 3, 2015, Sotheby's sold at lot 13 for £ 7.8M from a lower estimate of £ 5M a drawing for the nude of a young boy which is one of the earliest studies for La Baignade. This drawing in conté pencil on paper, 32 x 24 cm, may have been executed as early as 1883.
The boy is viewed in profile with a detailed anatomy. His attitude of cry for echo was kept unchanged in the full size version where he is the bather in the foreground with shorts. The drawing offered a chiaroscuro effect that has not been used in the painting.
Record for a work on paper by #Seurat: study for @Nationalgallery’s iconic ‘Une baignade, Asnières’ sells for £7.8m pic.twitter.com/jGAMQtKJ0Z
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) February 3, 2015
1883 MONET
1
Summer - L'Eglise de Vernon
2020 SOLD for $ 4.7M by Christie's
Claude Monet moved to Giverny with Alice in April 1883. Vernon, 4 km downstream on the Seine from his new home, could not escape his very first excursions. In the beginning of summer, he executed three views of the Gothic church.
The first of them is titled L'Eglise de Vernon. The church is hiding behind the pattern of poplars on one of the tiny islands. The view is taken from Monet's bateau atelier moored in another island. The trees are reflecting in the river. The sunny light of the late morning in rendered in a myriad of varied colored touches.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 4.7M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 21. The first Impressionniste acquisition of a US collector, he had been kept for 130 years in his family. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The first of them is titled L'Eglise de Vernon. The church is hiding behind the pattern of poplars on one of the tiny islands. The view is taken from Monet's bateau atelier moored in another island. The trees are reflecting in the river. The sunny light of the late morning in rendered in a myriad of varied colored touches.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 4.7M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 21. The first Impressionniste acquisition of a US collector, he had been kept for 130 years in his family. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
December - Route de Monte-Carlo
2024 SOLD for HK$ 61M by Sotheby's
In the fall of 1883 Claude Monet was busy in preparing indoor decorations, in the apartment of Durand-Ruel. That did not match his irresistible desire to paint outdoors. Renoir managed to have his friend discovered the beauty of the light in the Riviera. Both did together a short trip in December.
Looking at first to new visual stimuli as he he will do much later in Venice, Monet did not paint much during that stay.
One of the first two works, titled Route de Monte-Carlo, features the village of Bordighera under a midday sun, nestled in the hills with a path in the foreground. A group of three is hardly visible at mid distance. The impasto provides the effects of chromatic complementarities.
This oil on canvas 66 x 81 cm was sold for HK $ 61M from a lower estimate of HK $ 45M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2024, lot 1547. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Bordighera is 32 km away from Monte-Carlo by the road, through Ventimiglia and Menton.
Looking at first to new visual stimuli as he he will do much later in Venice, Monet did not paint much during that stay.
One of the first two works, titled Route de Monte-Carlo, features the village of Bordighera under a midday sun, nestled in the hills with a path in the foreground. A group of three is hardly visible at mid distance. The impasto provides the effects of chromatic complementarities.
This oil on canvas 66 x 81 cm was sold for HK $ 61M from a lower estimate of HK $ 45M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2024, lot 1547. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Bordighera is 32 km away from Monte-Carlo by the road, through Ventimiglia and Menton.
3
December - Près Monte-Carlo
2016 SOLD for $ 7.1M by Sotheby's
The other example was taken by Monet from a spot beside the same road as the example above, but facing towards the sea and shore with some shrubs in the foreground. The sky is reflecting in the sea.
Titled Près Monte-Carlo, this oil on canvas 66 x 81 cm painted by Monet in 1883 and dated 1884 was sold for $ 7.1M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2016, lot 59.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Bordighera will be Monet's main theme when he came back alone a few months later in the region with a desire for prolific work.
Titled Près Monte-Carlo, this oil on canvas 66 x 81 cm painted by Monet in 1883 and dated 1884 was sold for $ 7.1M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2016, lot 59.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Bordighera will be Monet's main theme when he came back alone a few months later in the region with a desire for prolific work.
CAILLEBOTTE
Gustave Caillebotte was a man of many passions. Born into a wealthy family, he did not need to work for his living and was able to accompany and support the Impressionists.
Monet lived in Argenteuil from 1871 to 1878. In 1881 he convinced Caillebotte to settle in this small town on the Seine where he could spend his time in the double pleasure of painting and of competitive sailing.
In Argenteuil Monet had experienced with the outdoor painting, with his touch so original, his bold composition, his studies of colors and reflections. The young Caillebotte was gifted, too.
Monet lived in Argenteuil from 1871 to 1878. In 1881 he convinced Caillebotte to settle in this small town on the Seine where he could spend his time in the double pleasure of painting and of competitive sailing.
In Argenteuil Monet had experienced with the outdoor painting, with his touch so original, his bold composition, his studies of colors and reflections. The young Caillebotte was gifted, too.
1
1882-1883 Le Bassin
2022 SOLD for $ 4.9M by Christie's
Views of the Seine by Caillebotte are common, with the blue river, the reflections, the small boats, almost always in medium format. In two years, 1882 and 1883, he executed no less than 15 paintings on that theme, with a low traffic on the waterway, for his own contemplation.
An oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted in 1882 was sold for $ 5.1M by Christie's on November 3, 2010, lot 7. It shows two small boats at rest, awaiting their sails. The boats have been identified as belonging to the artist. He departed from one of them in May 1882.
A view 65 x 81 cm of the 1882-1883 series, painted by Caillebotte from Petit-Gennevilliers was sold by Christie's for $ 4.2M on May 7, 2002, lot 17 and for $ 4.9M on November 17, 2022, lot 44. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Bateaux au mouillage, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted in 1883, was sold for £ 3.3M by Christie's on June 23, 2010, lot 13.
An oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted in 1882 was sold for $ 5.1M by Christie's on November 3, 2010, lot 7. It shows two small boats at rest, awaiting their sails. The boats have been identified as belonging to the artist. He departed from one of them in May 1882.
A view 65 x 81 cm of the 1882-1883 series, painted by Caillebotte from Petit-Gennevilliers was sold by Christie's for $ 4.2M on May 7, 2002, lot 17 and for $ 4.9M on November 17, 2022, lot 44. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Bateaux au mouillage, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted in 1883, was sold for £ 3.3M by Christie's on June 23, 2010, lot 13.
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2
1883 Allée de la Villa des Fleurs à Trouville
2018 SOLD for $ 5M by Sotheby's
Chemin montant, oil on canvas 100 x 125 cm painted by Caillebotte in 1881, is a view of a path amidst the villas of Trouville, sold for £ 16.7M by Christie's on February 27, 2019, lot 28.
Allée de la Villa des Fleurs, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm is another view of Trouville, in the same style and composition with the same brush stroke rendering the light and shades of a sunny weather in the style of Renoir. The unidentifiable woman with a basket may be going to pick some wood.
It had been executed in 1883 as a wedding gift to a fellow member of the Argenteuil located Cercle de la Voile de Paris. Hitherto unrecorded, it surfaced more than 130 years later from that family before being sold at Sotheby's for $ 5M from a lower estimate of $ 2M on November 12, 2018, lot 39. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Allée de la Villa des Fleurs, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm is another view of Trouville, in the same style and composition with the same brush stroke rendering the light and shades of a sunny weather in the style of Renoir. The unidentifiable woman with a basket may be going to pick some wood.
It had been executed in 1883 as a wedding gift to a fellow member of the Argenteuil located Cercle de la Voile de Paris. Hitherto unrecorded, it surfaced more than 130 years later from that family before being sold at Sotheby's for $ 5M from a lower estimate of $ 2M on November 12, 2018, lot 39. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
