1884
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Seurat Caillebotte Monet 1879-87 Birth of automobile Inventions
See also : Seurat Caillebotte Monet 1879-87 Birth of automobile Inventions
masterpiece
1884 Portrait de Madame X by Sargent
Metropolitan Museum
John Singer Sargent was a child prodigy. The Impressionists did not however welcome him into their ranks because he was a pupil of Carolus-Duran who taught an academic classicism in Paris. John specialized in the society portrait. In 1884 he painstakingly painted the Portrait de Madame X which made a scandal by its plunging neckline. The artist was too far ahead of the couture fashion of the following century.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Une Baignade à Asnières by SEURAT
Intro
Georges Seurat was one of the most prolific researchers and experimenters of modern art. The graphic arts had been shaken by the new vision of the world brought by photography, transforming forever the realism. By positive reaction, before him, the Impressionists promoted the color in place of the line.
He seeks to define a new painting technique that will support his anti-bourgeois ideal. The composition is based on the balance of proportions. Fascinated by the color theories, Seurat invents the pointillism. The perceived colors are not those of his palette but a reconstruction of the spectrum by the opposition of the complementary.
He wants his demonstrations to be perfect. His achieved paintings are very rare. The very long preparation phases include drawings and oil sketches. In 1884 he exhibits at the Salon des Indépendants his first major work, Une Baignade à Asnières, oil on canvas 2 x 3 m.
He seeks to define a new painting technique that will support his anti-bourgeois ideal. The composition is based on the balance of proportions. Fascinated by the color theories, Seurat invents the pointillism. The perceived colors are not those of his palette but a reconstruction of the spectrum by the opposition of the complementary.
He wants his demonstrations to be perfect. His achieved paintings are very rare. The very long preparation phases include drawings and oil sketches. In 1884 he exhibits at the Salon des Indépendants his first major work, Une Baignade à Asnières, oil on canvas 2 x 3 m.
1
1883-1884 Study for a Bather
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
1 bis
masterpiece
1884
National Gallery
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1884 La Grande Jatte by SEURAT
Intro
After Une Baignade à Asnières, Seurat immediately begins another project, on the same social theme of the aberrant life of the bourgeois. He chooses a green corner by the Seine in the leisure park on the island of La Grande Jatte, on the border between Neuilly and Levallois.
Three oil sketches on canvas are started in parallel in May 1884. One of them is a Paysage empty of any character, 65 x 79 cm, on which he sets up the theoretical elements of its composition. The second is a full version 70 x 104 cm, scaled as one third of the size of the final work. The other sketch is a study for the couple in the foreground.
While working in his studio on the improvement of these 3 larger compositions, Seurat executed in situ 28 preparatory small sketches in oil on wooden boards that he used to call croquetons, a word of his own derived from croquis. He also executed 28 drawings for the same purpose. In that period of six months beginning in May 1884, he worked daily full time in the park when weather allowed it.
Three oil sketches on canvas are started in parallel in May 1884. One of them is a Paysage empty of any character, 65 x 79 cm, on which he sets up the theoretical elements of its composition. The second is a full version 70 x 104 cm, scaled as one third of the size of the final work. The other sketch is a study for the couple in the foreground.
While working in his studio on the improvement of these 3 larger compositions, Seurat executed in situ 28 preparatory small sketches in oil on wooden boards that he used to call croquetons, a word of his own derived from croquis. He also executed 28 drawings for the same purpose. In that period of six months beginning in May 1884, he worked daily full time in the park when weather allowed it.
1
Paysage (canvas)
1999 SOLD for $ 35M by Sotheby's
The preparatory Paysage reworked throughout a period of six months from May 1884 was sold for $ 35M by Sotheby's on May 10, 1999, in the sale of the Whitney collection. It is illustrated by Sotheby's in a list of The Most iconic Impressionist Artworks sold by them. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
Paysage et Personnages, La Jupe Rose (croqueton)
2021 SOLD for $ 13.2M by Christie's
Le Saint-Cyrien is a small croqueton for testing the confrontation of colors in the pointillist technique. The tall man is straight standing at mid distance within the otherwise unpopulated park. The Saint-Cyrien is one of the in-period symbols of the bourgeoisie. Two of them will appear in the final version.
This cadet of the elite Ecole spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr is highly identifiable for the silhouette of the uniform, the dark blue tunic and the scarlet trousers. His epaulettes are each figured by a scarlet dot. Another red dot adorns the shako and a touch of gold defines the belt.
This oil on panel 15 x 25 cm was given to Cross by the mother of the late artist. It was later owned by Fénéon, the early supporter of Seurat who had coined the designation of néo-impressionnisme in 1886 for the new style. It was sold for $ 4.35M by Christie's on May 13, 2021, lot 5B.
Paysage et personnages, also painted in 1884, is another croqueton of same format, technique and purpose as the Saint-Cyrien.
Its sub-title La Jupe rose defines its main subject. In a populated surrounding, the image is exactly centered on a standing woman who will be the serene mother of a young girl at the same position in the final version.
Her rose skirt is an interlacing of dots in a complex brushwork, for testing the color theories of the chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul. Its hues include pinks from pale to deep as well as streaks of yellow, blue and lavender. In a mere single square centimeter, the composition of her hat mingles bright green, pink and orange, generating a light brown tone. The rest of the image is more sketched.
In 1886 La Jupe rose was one of 12 studies exhibited in New York beside the final version. It was sold for $ 13.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on May 13, 2021, lot 4B, the lot immediately preceding the Saint-Cyrien. The pair had been united by a collector in the 1920s.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Unlike the Bathing in Asnières, the resulting colors on the Grande Jatte are dull, with too much space provided to the shadows in the foreground. Signac will succeed in convincing Seurat that brightest lights bring a much better effect to the divisionist technique.
Indeed a croqueton made in 1884-1885 in the standardized format of that series is a trial for brighter colors in much larger monochromatic dots, not in accordance with the tones and brush strokes of the final version. It was obviously too late for replaying the whole development process.
This Paysage subtitled Homme assis was sold for $ 4.1M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 48C.
One further year was spent to achieve the final version.
This cadet of the elite Ecole spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr is highly identifiable for the silhouette of the uniform, the dark blue tunic and the scarlet trousers. His epaulettes are each figured by a scarlet dot. Another red dot adorns the shako and a touch of gold defines the belt.
This oil on panel 15 x 25 cm was given to Cross by the mother of the late artist. It was later owned by Fénéon, the early supporter of Seurat who had coined the designation of néo-impressionnisme in 1886 for the new style. It was sold for $ 4.35M by Christie's on May 13, 2021, lot 5B.
Paysage et personnages, also painted in 1884, is another croqueton of same format, technique and purpose as the Saint-Cyrien.
Its sub-title La Jupe rose defines its main subject. In a populated surrounding, the image is exactly centered on a standing woman who will be the serene mother of a young girl at the same position in the final version.
Her rose skirt is an interlacing of dots in a complex brushwork, for testing the color theories of the chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul. Its hues include pinks from pale to deep as well as streaks of yellow, blue and lavender. In a mere single square centimeter, the composition of her hat mingles bright green, pink and orange, generating a light brown tone. The rest of the image is more sketched.
In 1886 La Jupe rose was one of 12 studies exhibited in New York beside the final version. It was sold for $ 13.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on May 13, 2021, lot 4B, the lot immediately preceding the Saint-Cyrien. The pair had been united by a collector in the 1920s.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Unlike the Bathing in Asnières, the resulting colors on the Grande Jatte are dull, with too much space provided to the shadows in the foreground. Signac will succeed in convincing Seurat that brightest lights bring a much better effect to the divisionist technique.
Indeed a croqueton made in 1884-1885 in the standardized format of that series is a trial for brighter colors in much larger monochromatic dots, not in accordance with the tones and brush strokes of the final version. It was obviously too late for replaying the whole development process.
This Paysage subtitled Homme assis was sold for $ 4.1M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 48C.
One further year was spent to achieve the final version.
1884 Petit Gennevilliers by Caillebotte
2019 SOLD for $ 19.7M by Sotheby's
Gustave Caillebotte is a wealthy Parisian bourgeois. After the death of his mother, he gives up the family home at Yerres and buys an estate in Petit-Gennevilliers to build his house and his studio. Close to the Argenteuil bridge, he thus settles in a place beloved by his impressionist friends where he could devote himself to his passion for boating.
Caillebotte does not need money. His works are most often in relation with his private life, in Paris, Gennevilliers or Trouville. In the early 1880s he desires to be the representative of the earliest Impressionist style and manages to move away from the group, having therefore more time for hobbies and painting.
He has many friends, including a former school fellow named Richard Gallo of whom he has made since 1878 several salon portraits. He manages to attract this young townsman for a visit to Gennevilliers.
On November 12, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 19.7M Richard Gallo et son chien Dick au Petit-Gennevilliers, lot 25. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This very large oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm painted in 1884 has an unconventional composition as it was liked by Caillebotte or Degas. The Seine river displays all its colors and reflections. On the other side, sparse little houses reveal that we are not in Paris.
In contrast, the bank at the foreground is poorly lit. The bourgeois follows the dog from a distance, without obstructing the central view to the river. Both are seen in profile as silhouettes. They are in the fashion of Paris, the man with his frock coat, hat and cane and the poodle shorn "à la lion".
The river seems to be the main theme of this painting. Exhibited in 1888 with the title Portrait de M. R.G., it was indeed considered by the artist as a portrait of his friend, perhaps meaning nicely that the social gap between city and countryside is not irremediable. Presented by the artist to Gallo, it was not included in the bequest of the Caillebotte collection to the French state.
Caillebotte does not need money. His works are most often in relation with his private life, in Paris, Gennevilliers or Trouville. In the early 1880s he desires to be the representative of the earliest Impressionist style and manages to move away from the group, having therefore more time for hobbies and painting.
He has many friends, including a former school fellow named Richard Gallo of whom he has made since 1878 several salon portraits. He manages to attract this young townsman for a visit to Gennevilliers.
On November 12, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 19.7M Richard Gallo et son chien Dick au Petit-Gennevilliers, lot 25. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This very large oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm painted in 1884 has an unconventional composition as it was liked by Caillebotte or Degas. The Seine river displays all its colors and reflections. On the other side, sparse little houses reveal that we are not in Paris.
In contrast, the bank at the foreground is poorly lit. The bourgeois follows the dog from a distance, without obstructing the central view to the river. Both are seen in profile as silhouettes. They are in the fashion of Paris, the man with his frock coat, hat and cane and the poodle shorn "à la lion".
The river seems to be the main theme of this painting. Exhibited in 1888 with the title Portrait de M. R.G., it was indeed considered by the artist as a portrait of his friend, perhaps meaning nicely that the social gap between city and countryside is not irremediable. Presented by the artist to Gallo, it was not included in the bequest of the Caillebotte collection to the French state.
1884 MONET
1
Au Cap Martin
2023 SOLD for $ 11.5M by Sotheby's
Looking for new landscapes and their associated light effect, Monet made in the winter of 1884 a three month solo trip to the Mediterranean coast, working in Bordighera, Menton and Monte Carlo. He had shortly visited the region with Renoir in December 1883.
He dedicated a few days in April to two views from the Cap Martin which he had spotted as exceptional in February. Residing at Menton, he made of them a sub-series of nine paintings varying the times of day.
Au Cap Martin features Menton in the morning sun, packed between the blue sea and the big rocky mountains with the shore of the Cap in the foreground. The intense colors are applied in impasto. The rocks are rendered in a brilliant mingling of pink, yellow and orange.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 11.5M by Sotheby's on May 17, 2023, lot 117. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The pictorial innovations of Monet during this trip certainly encouraged Cézanne for starting his series of views of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. After a Monet exhibition in 1896, a dazzled Kandinsky decided to engage in his new style of landscape painting escaping the strict realism.
He dedicated a few days in April to two views from the Cap Martin which he had spotted as exceptional in February. Residing at Menton, he made of them a sub-series of nine paintings varying the times of day.
Au Cap Martin features Menton in the morning sun, packed between the blue sea and the big rocky mountains with the shore of the Cap in the foreground. The intense colors are applied in impasto. The rocks are rendered in a brilliant mingling of pink, yellow and orange.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 11.5M by Sotheby's on May 17, 2023, lot 117. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The pictorial innovations of Monet during this trip certainly encouraged Cézanne for starting his series of views of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. After a Monet exhibition in 1896, a dazzled Kandinsky decided to engage in his new style of landscape painting escaping the strict realism.
2
Palmier à Bordighera
2023 SOLD for $ 5.9M by Sotheby's
In his 1884 solo trip at the Riviera, Monet could not miss Bordighera. The resort village with opulent villas 20 km away from Menton and the French border was famous for his Moreno Gardens gathering rare Mediterranean plants including hundreds of species of palm trees.
Indeed the intense light on the palm tree easily responded to Monet's quest about warm exotic atmospheres. Also the standing look of the tree and the vivid colors of its foliage made it considered as a giant fellow or alter ego by the demanding artist. The sky is made of exquisite shades of pink and blue.
Palmier à Bordighera, oil on canvas 61 x 74 cm, was significantly retained by Monet in his collection while many other paintings from that trip had been immediately acquired by Durand-Ruel. It was sold for $ 5.9M by Sotheby's on May 17, 2023, lot 115 in the same sale as the Cap Martin scenery narrated above. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This series predates by 20 years Matisse's Fauviste views of Collioure.
Indeed the intense light on the palm tree easily responded to Monet's quest about warm exotic atmospheres. Also the standing look of the tree and the vivid colors of its foliage made it considered as a giant fellow or alter ego by the demanding artist. The sky is made of exquisite shades of pink and blue.
Palmier à Bordighera, oil on canvas 61 x 74 cm, was significantly retained by Monet in his collection while many other paintings from that trip had been immediately acquired by Durand-Ruel. It was sold for $ 5.9M by Sotheby's on May 17, 2023, lot 115 in the same sale as the Cap Martin scenery narrated above. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This series predates by 20 years Matisse's Fauviste views of Collioure.
3
Maison du Jardinier à Bordighera
2007 SOLD for £ 4.05M by Sotheby's
Maison du Jardinier was painted by Monet during his 1884 stay at Bordighera. It features the small house dedicated to Moreno's gardener behind a lush vegetation foreground. The Moreno Villa appears on the right edge of the composition.
This oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm had been acquired by Sargent from Durand-Ruel. It was sold for £ 4.05M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2007, lot 27. It is typical of the luminous palette and free brushwork of the series. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm had been acquired by Sargent from Durand-Ruel. It was sold for £ 4.05M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2007, lot 27. It is typical of the luminous palette and free brushwork of the series. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
4
Summer 1884 Marée Basse aux Petites Dalles
2016 SOLD for $ 9.9M by Sotheby's
In 1884 Monet spent the summer with his family at Les Petites Dalles, a seaside resort near Fécamp.
A sunset view features the towering cliff reflecting in a turbulent sea at low tide.
This oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm was sold for $ 9.9M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2015, lot 25. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A sunset view features the towering cliff reflecting in a turbulent sea at low tide.
This oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm was sold for $ 9.9M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2015, lot 25. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Summer 1884 Aux Petites Dalles
2025 for sale on June 24 by Sotheby's
Aux Petites Dalles, oil on canvas 66 x 83 cm, shows a descending path populated at mid distance by a family group, within a landscape of verdant hills with a chapel on the horizon.
A beautiful contrast is offered between the shadowy foreground and the bright path, letting Normandie compete with the light of the Midi that he had explored earlier in that year.
This intimate and joyful picture is estimated £ 5M for sale by Sotheby's on June 24, 2025, lot 24. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A beautiful contrast is offered between the shadowy foreground and the bright path, letting Normandie compete with the light of the Midi that he had explored earlier in that year.
This intimate and joyful picture is estimated £ 5M for sale by Sotheby's on June 24, 2025, lot 24. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1884 Buste de Femme de Profil by Renoir
2017 SOLD for $ 8.2M by Christie's
Not so easy, the artist's life ! After the early period of enthusiasm, the Impressionists began to look for adapting their style to what they thought they could sell. Renoir was now supported by Durand-Ruel.
A charming Buste de jeune fille de profil was painted in a realistic style with a milky skin on a flat cobalt blue background by Renoir in 1884. The gaze and demure smile of the teenager brunette are expressing a youthful expectation. The slipping of the dress on a shoulder is gently appealing.
This oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm was sold for $ 8.2M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 25A and for £ 5M by Sotheby's on March 2, 2022, lot 130. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A charming Buste de jeune fille de profil was painted in a realistic style with a milky skin on a flat cobalt blue background by Renoir in 1884. The gaze and demure smile of the teenager brunette are expressing a youthful expectation. The slipping of the dress on a shoulder is gently appealing.
This oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm was sold for $ 8.2M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 25A and for £ 5M by Sotheby's on March 2, 2022, lot 130. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1884 La Marquise
2011 SOLD for $ 4.6M by RM Auctions
The meeting between the aristocrat de Dion and the mechanical engineers Bouton and Trépardoux was successful. The steam had proved effective with the locomotives. By developing a propulsion system of small volume that could be mounted on a tricycle or quadricycle, the team actually invented the automobile.
La Marquise, made in 1884, with two pairs of different-size wheels, is the first successful prototype and is still the oldest car capable of running. Its general shape is already not like a boiler, but that of a real car.
In 1887, La Marquise won the first event considered as a car race between Paris and Versailles, without difficulty because it was the only competitor.
Yet the experiments of Benz, begun in 1885, would soon show that the petrol engine was a better choice than steam.
La Marquise was a sensation at Pebble Beach on August 19, 2007, when it was sold $ 3.5M by Gooding from an estimate of $ 1.5 M. It was sold for $ 4.6M on October 7, 2011 by RM Auctions. Please watch the video shared before the sale by RM Auctions :
La Marquise, made in 1884, with two pairs of different-size wheels, is the first successful prototype and is still the oldest car capable of running. Its general shape is already not like a boiler, but that of a real car.
In 1887, La Marquise won the first event considered as a car race between Paris and Versailles, without difficulty because it was the only competitor.
Yet the experiments of Benz, begun in 1885, would soon show that the petrol engine was a better choice than steam.
La Marquise was a sensation at Pebble Beach on August 19, 2007, when it was sold $ 3.5M by Gooding from an estimate of $ 1.5 M. It was sold for $ 4.6M on October 7, 2011 by RM Auctions. Please watch the video shared before the sale by RM Auctions :
