1887
van GOGH
1
end of winter 1887 Montmartre
2021 SOLD for € 13M by Sotheby's
Vincent van Gogh arrives in Paris in March 1886. He stays with his brother Theo and attends the Cormon workshop where he meets Toulouse-Lautrec. The nearby Butte Montmartre exerts an irrepressible attraction. In June Theo and Vincent settle on the slopes of the Butte, rue Lepic.
The atmosphere is both rustic and festive. The Butte rises to 130 m above sea level, without shelter from the wind. The mills are picturesque. In the most famous of them, the Debray family has been producing high quality flour since 1809, for which this already old mill is named Moulin de la Galette or Moulin Blute Fin. The enclosure is transformed into an entertainment area for drinking and dancing. The Moulin à Poivre is built therein in 1865.
The Dutch artist is keen of windmills. He loves the pure air of the hills and will not fail, two years later, to start his exploration of Arles with Montmajour. His style changes. His paintings of the Montmartre mills have bright and cheerful colors. His scenes populated by quiet figures are post-impressionist, with soft lines and stylized faces. They will be copiously imitated by Utrillo.
On March 25, 2021, Sotheby's sold for € 13M from a lower estimate of € 5M a view of Montmartre painted by Vincent at the end of the 1887 winter, lot 6 recently rediscovered by the commissaires-priseurs Mirabaud-Mercier. The scene is centered on the Moulin à Poivre in close-up, while another mill is visible far away on the horizon.
This 46 x 63 cm oil on canvas had been in a private collection for a century, out of sight of public and experts. The image is shared by Wikimedia. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
The atmosphere is both rustic and festive. The Butte rises to 130 m above sea level, without shelter from the wind. The mills are picturesque. In the most famous of them, the Debray family has been producing high quality flour since 1809, for which this already old mill is named Moulin de la Galette or Moulin Blute Fin. The enclosure is transformed into an entertainment area for drinking and dancing. The Moulin à Poivre is built therein in 1865.
The Dutch artist is keen of windmills. He loves the pure air of the hills and will not fail, two years later, to start his exploration of Arles with Montmajour. His style changes. His paintings of the Montmartre mills have bright and cheerful colors. His scenes populated by quiet figures are post-impressionist, with soft lines and stylized faces. They will be copiously imitated by Utrillo.
On March 25, 2021, Sotheby's sold for € 13M from a lower estimate of € 5M a view of Montmartre painted by Vincent at the end of the 1887 winter, lot 6 recently rediscovered by the commissaires-priseurs Mirabaud-Mercier. The scene is centered on the Moulin à Poivre in close-up, while another mill is visible far away on the horizon.
This 46 x 63 cm oil on canvas had been in a private collection for a century, out of sight of public and experts. The image is shared by Wikimedia. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
2
May-July 1887 Les Canots amarrés
2024 SOLD for HK$ 250M by Christie's
By chance Vincent van Gogh was already in Paris when the eighth and final group exhibition of the Impressionnistes opened in May 1886, unveiling the then controversial pointillist masterpiece Un dimanche après-midi à l'Ile de la Grande Jatte by Seurat.
Vincent was eager to develop a new style of painting inspired by the whole extent of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist achievement. In most days from early May to late July 1887 he brought his canvas and hardware by foot from Montmartre to Asnières there and back in the company of his younger fellows Paul Signac or Emile Bernard, for painting sceneries of the Seine in the vicinity of the pont d'Asnières and of the Grande Jatte.
Nine views of Asnières from an overall of about 40 have a unique size of canvas 52 x 65 cm, a palette of bold luminous colors new for the artist and a specific red painted thin framing line on the whole perimeter. The elongated brush stroke is an elementary piece of color inspired by Seurat's breakthrough technique but depending on the motif instead of retaining the pointillist dot shape.
Vincent's younger brother Theo died in January 1890. In an inventory of Theo's Paris apartment later in that year, the brother of Theo's widow split the series in three triptychs which were exhibited as such in 1896 in Ambroise Vollard's gallery. There is an assumption that each triptych had been originally painted on a compartmented piece of canvas nearly 2 m long.
Les Canots amarrés is one of the nine views, displaying rowing boats moored on the shore of the Seine. It was sold for HK $ 250M by Christie's on September 26, 2024, lot 13. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Vincent was eager to develop a new style of painting inspired by the whole extent of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist achievement. In most days from early May to late July 1887 he brought his canvas and hardware by foot from Montmartre to Asnières there and back in the company of his younger fellows Paul Signac or Emile Bernard, for painting sceneries of the Seine in the vicinity of the pont d'Asnières and of the Grande Jatte.
Nine views of Asnières from an overall of about 40 have a unique size of canvas 52 x 65 cm, a palette of bold luminous colors new for the artist and a specific red painted thin framing line on the whole perimeter. The elongated brush stroke is an elementary piece of color inspired by Seurat's breakthrough technique but depending on the motif instead of retaining the pointillist dot shape.
Vincent's younger brother Theo died in January 1890. In an inventory of Theo's Paris apartment later in that year, the brother of Theo's widow split the series in three triptychs which were exhibited as such in 1896 in Ambroise Vollard's gallery. There is an assumption that each triptych had been originally painted on a compartmented piece of canvas nearly 2 m long.
Les Canots amarrés is one of the nine views, displaying rowing boats moored on the shore of the Seine. It was sold for HK $ 250M by Christie's on September 26, 2024, lot 13. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
3
May-July 1887 Coin de Jardin avec Papillons
2024 SOLD for $ 33M by Christie's
As an artistic movement, the Impressionnisme is in decline in 1886. Monet and some early adopters refuse to participate in their eighth exhibition, which will be the last one, because Pissarro supports Seurat and Signac.
Monet remains a reference. Young artists express the beauty of a little detail of nature, simply. Moving away from the traditional landscape and still life, they open the path to abstract expressionism. Returning to England after a visit to Giverny, Sargent painted in 1886 a humble embankment of poppies with brilliant colors, sold by Sotheby's for $ 6.9M on May 18, 2016, lot 8.
Vincent van Gogh is in Paris in 1886. He admits that until then he had no knowledge of current art. He had admired Millet, Daubigny and Mesdag. He integrates his discovery of Impressionnisme with dazzling energy but, always in quest for a personal and perfect art, he does not imitate them.
In 1886 Vincent painted many views of Paris. In the following year he worked beside Signac in the Parc Voyer d'Argenson, overlooking the Seine at Asnières in the steps of Seurat.
An undated Coin de Jardin avec Papillons has long puzzled the experts. Its painstaking realization suggested to La Faille that it was painted in Saint-Rémy in the spring of 1889, by comparison with the Iris.
For the textures in the flower bed and the ground of Coin de Jardin, Vincent used long brush strokes intertwined in the style of Monet's snows at Giverny instead of the tiny elements of bright colors practiced by Signac.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam suggests an execution in the spring of 1887, between May and July. If so, Vincent had experienced in the Asnières garden a style that he will use more regularly two years later. In his enthusiasm to master the art of painting in its entirety, this hypothesis is also plausible. There is a possible reference to this specific work in a March 1888 letter to Theo.
This oil on canvas 50 x 61 cm was sold for $ 33M by Christie's on May 16, 2024, lot 29 B. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Monet remains a reference. Young artists express the beauty of a little detail of nature, simply. Moving away from the traditional landscape and still life, they open the path to abstract expressionism. Returning to England after a visit to Giverny, Sargent painted in 1886 a humble embankment of poppies with brilliant colors, sold by Sotheby's for $ 6.9M on May 18, 2016, lot 8.
Vincent van Gogh is in Paris in 1886. He admits that until then he had no knowledge of current art. He had admired Millet, Daubigny and Mesdag. He integrates his discovery of Impressionnisme with dazzling energy but, always in quest for a personal and perfect art, he does not imitate them.
In 1886 Vincent painted many views of Paris. In the following year he worked beside Signac in the Parc Voyer d'Argenson, overlooking the Seine at Asnières in the steps of Seurat.
An undated Coin de Jardin avec Papillons has long puzzled the experts. Its painstaking realization suggested to La Faille that it was painted in Saint-Rémy in the spring of 1889, by comparison with the Iris.
For the textures in the flower bed and the ground of Coin de Jardin, Vincent used long brush strokes intertwined in the style of Monet's snows at Giverny instead of the tiny elements of bright colors practiced by Signac.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam suggests an execution in the spring of 1887, between May and July. If so, Vincent had experienced in the Asnières garden a style that he will use more regularly two years later. In his enthusiasm to master the art of painting in its entirety, this hypothesis is also plausible. There is a possible reference to this specific work in a March 1888 letter to Theo.
This oil on canvas 50 x 61 cm was sold for $ 33M by Christie's on May 16, 2024, lot 29 B. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
4
Summer 1887 Jardin devant le Mas Debray
2023 SOLD for $ 23.3M by Sotheby's
A view by Vincent van Gogh of a garden in front of a farmhouse had long been attributed to his detailed exploration of the village of Auvers from his arrival therein in May 1890. In the early 1990s it was found from vintage photos that it represented the mas of the Debray family of Moulin de la Galette fame. Incorporated in the city of Paris in 1860, Montmartre still had a rural aspect in Vincent's time.
Vincent moves to Paris in 1886. He admits that hitherto he had no knowledge of current art. He had admired Millet, Daubigny and Mesdag. He integrates his discovery of Impressionnisme with dazzling energy but, always in quest for a personal and perfect art, he does not imitate them.
Due to bright palette and to the divisionnist strokes in the flowers, the terminus post quem of the Jardin is 1887. The blooming suggests that it was painted in Summer. Nevertheless Vincent was also relying on his imagination. No evidence has been found of sunflowers in Debray's garden.
In his 1889 and 1890 pictures in Provence and Auvers, the influence of Signac on Vincent remains important : the overall effect of a painting is brought by tiny elements of bright colors. For the detail of the texture, Vincent rather retains the long brush strokes intertwined in the white snows of Monet. It is indeed quite difficult for an expert to find a difference in style between the end of his Paris period and Auvers.
Jardin devant le Mas Debray is altogether one of the most impressionist pictures by Vincent and one of his latest landscapes in Montmartre. This oil on canvas 31 x 41 cm was sold for $ 23.3M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2023, lot 114. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Vincent moves to Paris in 1886. He admits that hitherto he had no knowledge of current art. He had admired Millet, Daubigny and Mesdag. He integrates his discovery of Impressionnisme with dazzling energy but, always in quest for a personal and perfect art, he does not imitate them.
Due to bright palette and to the divisionnist strokes in the flowers, the terminus post quem of the Jardin is 1887. The blooming suggests that it was painted in Summer. Nevertheless Vincent was also relying on his imagination. No evidence has been found of sunflowers in Debray's garden.
In his 1889 and 1890 pictures in Provence and Auvers, the influence of Signac on Vincent remains important : the overall effect of a painting is brought by tiny elements of bright colors. For the detail of the texture, Vincent rather retains the long brush strokes intertwined in the white snows of Monet. It is indeed quite difficult for an expert to find a difference in style between the end of his Paris period and Auvers.
Jardin devant le Mas Debray is altogether one of the most impressionist pictures by Vincent and one of his latest landscapes in Montmartre. This oil on canvas 31 x 41 cm was sold for $ 23.3M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2023, lot 114. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1886-1887 Pêches et Poires by Cézanne
2019 SOLD for £ 21M by Christie's
Paul Cézanne returns in 1878 to settle in Aix-en-Provence. He is alone to face the torment of his creativity and no longer exhibits in public. He seeks a universal art, abolishing the differences between the most disparate themes : portraits, landscapes, still lifes. Each work is reworked relentlessly up to the multi-sensory perfection desired by the artist.
Painting is the only possible medium for his interpretation of life, because it allows color harmonies. The laws of the perspective itself are not untouchable. Impressionism does not go far enough.
Emile Zola has certainly appreciated the depth of Cézanne's theories and his difficulties in sharing them. In his novel L'Oeuvre published in 1886, he stages a misunderstood painter whose idealistic passion leads to failure. A later letter from Cézanne to Zola, recently found, contradicts the legend of their breakup. Cézanne was obviously too soaked in his research to be indignant at the concern of his college friend.
On February 27, 2019, Christie's sold for £ 21M as lot 6 a still life of fruit, oil on canvas 38 x 46 cm painted in the mid 1880s. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The theme is modest and the composition is minimalist. On a rustic table without any ornament in a slightly plunging perspective, a plate contains five peaches and a pear. Another pear is placed to the right of the plate. The subtle variety of fruit color is not however the main subject of this experiment.
If the plate is placed flat on the table, its perfect circle is impossible. It is therefore inclined, at the limit of the imbalance of the fruit pyramid. Cézanne knew that realism does not exist in painting : nature is too complex to be imitated and the surface of the canvas does not allow an illusion of real space.
A probably later work gives the key to the enigma : now viewed in profile, the plate is actually tilted. This 28 x 40 cm oil on canvas was sold for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2017.
Many years later, Matisse tries an axiom according to which Cézanne was too perfectionist to make a mistake. He thus discovers the de-construction of perspective in the most seemingly simplistic still lifes by Cézanne, an artist too far ahead of his own time.
Painting is the only possible medium for his interpretation of life, because it allows color harmonies. The laws of the perspective itself are not untouchable. Impressionism does not go far enough.
Emile Zola has certainly appreciated the depth of Cézanne's theories and his difficulties in sharing them. In his novel L'Oeuvre published in 1886, he stages a misunderstood painter whose idealistic passion leads to failure. A later letter from Cézanne to Zola, recently found, contradicts the legend of their breakup. Cézanne was obviously too soaked in his research to be indignant at the concern of his college friend.
On February 27, 2019, Christie's sold for £ 21M as lot 6 a still life of fruit, oil on canvas 38 x 46 cm painted in the mid 1880s. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The theme is modest and the composition is minimalist. On a rustic table without any ornament in a slightly plunging perspective, a plate contains five peaches and a pear. Another pear is placed to the right of the plate. The subtle variety of fruit color is not however the main subject of this experiment.
If the plate is placed flat on the table, its perfect circle is impossible. It is therefore inclined, at the limit of the imbalance of the fruit pyramid. Cézanne knew that realism does not exist in painting : nature is too complex to be imitated and the surface of the canvas does not allow an illusion of real space.
A probably later work gives the key to the enigma : now viewed in profile, the plate is actually tilted. This 28 x 40 cm oil on canvas was sold for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2017.
Many years later, Matisse tries an axiom according to which Cézanne was too perfectionist to make a mistake. He thus discovers the de-construction of perspective in the most seemingly simplistic still lifes by Cézanne, an artist too far ahead of his own time.
Highlights from the most important single owner collection of Impressionist and Modern art offered for sale in London for a decade, featuring works by #Monet, #Renoir, #Cézanne, #VanGogh, #Bonnard, #Matisse and more... https://t.co/PZ3OpFMU7M pic.twitter.com/dhAJXW9NF5
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 27, 2018
1886-1887 La Blanchisseuse by Lautrec
2005 SOLD for $ 22.4M by Christie's
Henri, the only surviving son of the comte de Toulouse-Lautrec, had lived his childhood in the castles of his family. He wanted to be an artist and arrives in Paris in 1882. He enters the studio of Fernand Cormon, a very influential painter and teacher who brought a psychological dimension to prehistoric scenes inspired from La Légende des Siècles by Victor Hugo.
Toulouse-Lautrec follows his master when he sets up his workshop near Montmartre. The young provincial was overwhelmed by the social difference between his family and the humble and hard-working life of the popular classes. Cormon teaches him to look at people with sensitivity.
Lautrec soon went to the cabarets of Montmartre. The fashion is for the chansons réalistes in which innocent girls in later teen age are watched over by pimps to the delight of the bourgeois who come to debase themselves in this world of bad life, among thieves and rapins.
In the fashion for girls is the dyed red hair, with abundant buns. The best known example will be the prostitute Casque d'Or, a few years later. In 1885 Lautrec wrote to his mother that he painted the portrait of a woman whose hair was an absolute gold.
He makes several sketches of his new model. Although very young, she had previously posed for Alfred Stevens. Her name is Carmen. Her face is very recognizable with her upturned nose, square jawline, and the locks falling in front of her eyes.
Lautrec reuses these portraits to feature "la Rousse" in scenes typical of the Parisian lower life. La Blanchisseuse, oil on canvas 96 x 75 cm painted in 1886 or 1887, was sold for $ 22.4M by Christie's on November 1, 2005, lot 17. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The theme is not innocent. Working in the heat, the young women are dressed in light blouses that they know how to take off to earn a little money. They have a reputation as prostitutes. Under the Second Empire, they were the main models of the erotic photographs banned by the morality police.
Toulouse-Lautrec follows his master when he sets up his workshop near Montmartre. The young provincial was overwhelmed by the social difference between his family and the humble and hard-working life of the popular classes. Cormon teaches him to look at people with sensitivity.
Lautrec soon went to the cabarets of Montmartre. The fashion is for the chansons réalistes in which innocent girls in later teen age are watched over by pimps to the delight of the bourgeois who come to debase themselves in this world of bad life, among thieves and rapins.
In the fashion for girls is the dyed red hair, with abundant buns. The best known example will be the prostitute Casque d'Or, a few years later. In 1885 Lautrec wrote to his mother that he painted the portrait of a woman whose hair was an absolute gold.
He makes several sketches of his new model. Although very young, she had previously posed for Alfred Stevens. Her name is Carmen. Her face is very recognizable with her upturned nose, square jawline, and the locks falling in front of her eyes.
Lautrec reuses these portraits to feature "la Rousse" in scenes typical of the Parisian lower life. La Blanchisseuse, oil on canvas 96 x 75 cm painted in 1886 or 1887, was sold for $ 22.4M by Christie's on November 1, 2005, lot 17. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The theme is not innocent. Working in the heat, the young women are dressed in light blouses that they know how to take off to earn a little money. They have a reputation as prostitutes. Under the Second Empire, they were the main models of the erotic photographs banned by the morality police.
1887 MONET
1
1887 Sous les Peupliers
2014 SOLD for $ 20.3M by Sotheby's
Impressionism considered by Monet is not only a new technique suitable for painting landscapes. It is also a life style far from social conventions and preferring the pleasures of the countryside to the noise of the city.
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.
Monet traveled extensively all along the 1880s in search of the most spectacular scenery of the French countryside. Better than anyone, he observed the light. At the end of this creative phase, he enters into communion with the agrarian landscape, beginning to escape the need to locate the view.
On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 20.3M from a lower estimate of $ 12M an oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1887 entitled Sous les peupliers (under the poplars), lot 28. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The control of his art is total. His impressionist manner is reinforced by a thick paint and the colors, as always, are beautiful and expressive. A similar view is held at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart. They are identified as the rural landscape in Limetz, not so far from Giverny.
This is in some way the culmination of the landscape art in France. Monet believes that his maturity is total. In the next year, he will be disappointed when the light and the wind of the Mediterranea will be too violent for his technique of outdoor painting. A new phase begins for him with more systematic studies of tiny variations of light in structured series: Haystacks in 1890 soon followed by the Poplars and by the Rouen Cathedrals.
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.
Monet traveled extensively all along the 1880s in search of the most spectacular scenery of the French countryside. Better than anyone, he observed the light. At the end of this creative phase, he enters into communion with the agrarian landscape, beginning to escape the need to locate the view.
On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 20.3M from a lower estimate of $ 12M an oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1887 entitled Sous les peupliers (under the poplars), lot 28. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The control of his art is total. His impressionist manner is reinforced by a thick paint and the colors, as always, are beautiful and expressive. A similar view is held at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart. They are identified as the rural landscape in Limetz, not so far from Giverny.
This is in some way the culmination of the landscape art in France. Monet believes that his maturity is total. In the next year, he will be disappointed when the light and the wind of the Mediterranea will be too violent for his technique of outdoor painting. A new phase begins for him with more systematic studies of tiny variations of light in structured series: Haystacks in 1890 soon followed by the Poplars and by the Rouen Cathedrals.
2
1887-1888 Les Peupliers à Giverny
2015 SOLD for £ 10.8M by Sotheby's
In the 1880s, Claude Monet is the landscape painter of France. Like Cézanne and Sisley, he however specializes in views close to his residence. His distant excursions that become rarer stimulate him to better observe his new paradise, the countryside around Giverny.
1887 marks the culmination of this slow evolution, including improvements in the texture of his paint.
On February 3, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 10.5M Les Peupliers à Giverny, lot 21. This oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm belonged since 1951 to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The composition of this picture is powerful. Its theme is the sunset of the early autumn in high treetops where the light turns into fire whirls. Through the trees, the clear sky and the fields offer sumptuous colors. The horizon was not useful for this exceptional landscape : it is hidden by the leaves.
1887 marks the culmination of this slow evolution, including improvements in the texture of his paint.
On February 3, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 10.5M Les Peupliers à Giverny, lot 21. This oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm belonged since 1951 to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The composition of this picture is powerful. Its theme is the sunset of the early autumn in high treetops where the light turns into fire whirls. Through the trees, the clear sky and the fields offer sumptuous colors. The horizon was not useful for this exceptional landscape : it is hidden by the leaves.
#AuctionUpdate: The radical shift in the work of Vincent Van Gogh that is demonstrated through his piece, ‘Jardin devant le Mas Debray’ and forever altered the history of modern art has been auctioned off at #SothebysNewYork for $23.3M. #SothebysModern pic.twitter.com/nNEVRih8z0
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 16, 2023
1887 Jeunes Filles jouant au Volant by Renoir
2014 SOLD for $ 11.4M by Christie's
After 1883, Renoir is looking for a new path. Impressionism is no longer suitable to him. The scenes of modern life that had made him so successful are no more decorative enough for his taste. Wanting a more sustainable art, he loses the references of clothing by undressing the young women and seeks to emulate Ingres.
Renoir exhibits his new style in 1887 with Les Grandes Baigneuses, oil on canvas 115 x 170 cm. The composition is neat, with a good balance between these happy women. The contours of their nude forms are a rejection of Impressionism by one of its main initiators. Failure is scathing.
On May 6, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 11.4M an oil on canvas 55 x 65 cm from the same period, lot 10, which illustrates the same desire of the artist to radically change his style. His work is done at that time in the studio, even for outdoor scenes.
In a meadow, five young women are playing rackets. They are dressed, but their attentive communication is similar to the Grandes Baigneuses. The figures are defined in sharp lines, leaving a reminder of impressionism only in the atmosphere of the surroundings.
Renoir exhibits his new style in 1887 with Les Grandes Baigneuses, oil on canvas 115 x 170 cm. The composition is neat, with a good balance between these happy women. The contours of their nude forms are a rejection of Impressionism by one of its main initiators. Failure is scathing.
On May 6, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 11.4M an oil on canvas 55 x 65 cm from the same period, lot 10, which illustrates the same desire of the artist to radically change his style. His work is done at that time in the studio, even for outdoor scenes.
In a meadow, five young women are playing rackets. They are dressed, but their attentive communication is similar to the Grandes Baigneuses. The figures are defined in sharp lines, leaving a reminder of impressionism only in the atmosphere of the surroundings.
1887 Danseuse attachant son chausson by Degas
2022 SOLD for $ 9M by Christie's
The dance is made to enchant. At the Opéra Garnier, Edgar Degas observes the occupational life in the backstage. This theme responds to his need to explore new artistic paths, through the liveliness of colors, the originality of the framing and the spontaneity of the movement. He chooses the technique of pastel on paper to better highlight the colors.
The dance uniform is the tutu, composed of a corselet and a puffed skirt mounted on several superimposed petticoats and embellished with a large bow in the shape of a butterfly. The colors are clear in harmony with the skin. This recent fashion was inaugurated by Marie Taglioni in 1832, two years before the artist's birth.
Opéra girls are capable of all contortions, without effort. The foot is an object of constant attention. Degas watches the dancer lacing up her pink shoe before entering the stage or massaging her ankle after the performance.
A pastel on buff paper 48 x 43 cm painted in 1887, titled Danseuse attachant son chausson, was sold for $ 9M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 1C. The young ballerina bends down to tie the ribbon of her ballet slipper with her feet turned out. Tutu and sash thrown upwards constitute a surreal relief in radiant colors and sharp lines.
The girl featured in 1887 in a pastel 50 x 62 cm is certainly the same ballerina as in the example above although the faces are not visible. Seated, she is is leaning for catching her foot while her head is below knee level.
Degas was a great innovator in terms of the angles of his images. Here, he looks at the girl from above, in a surreal position that he could not hold in reality and demonstrates the high role of imagination in his art. The crushing anamorphic plans transform the young dancer and her raising tutu into a butterfly with symmetrical wings in the colors of shimmering silk.
This pastel on paper titled Danseuse rajustant son chausson was sold for £ 4.5M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013, lot 19.
A smaller pastel 47 x 33 cm from the same series and period was sold for € 2.7M by Sotheby's on March 25, 2021, lot 3. The predominantly green tutu is actually made of a subtle mix of colors that have remained in very good condition. The sitting position is eccentric and of great spontaneity, with the long hair falling in front of the face in this forward movement to catch the foot.
The dance uniform is the tutu, composed of a corselet and a puffed skirt mounted on several superimposed petticoats and embellished with a large bow in the shape of a butterfly. The colors are clear in harmony with the skin. This recent fashion was inaugurated by Marie Taglioni in 1832, two years before the artist's birth.
Opéra girls are capable of all contortions, without effort. The foot is an object of constant attention. Degas watches the dancer lacing up her pink shoe before entering the stage or massaging her ankle after the performance.
A pastel on buff paper 48 x 43 cm painted in 1887, titled Danseuse attachant son chausson, was sold for $ 9M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 1C. The young ballerina bends down to tie the ribbon of her ballet slipper with her feet turned out. Tutu and sash thrown upwards constitute a surreal relief in radiant colors and sharp lines.
The girl featured in 1887 in a pastel 50 x 62 cm is certainly the same ballerina as in the example above although the faces are not visible. Seated, she is is leaning for catching her foot while her head is below knee level.
Degas was a great innovator in terms of the angles of his images. Here, he looks at the girl from above, in a surreal position that he could not hold in reality and demonstrates the high role of imagination in his art. The crushing anamorphic plans transform the young dancer and her raising tutu into a butterfly with symmetrical wings in the colors of shimmering silk.
This pastel on paper titled Danseuse rajustant son chausson was sold for £ 4.5M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013, lot 19.
A smaller pastel 47 x 33 cm from the same series and period was sold for € 2.7M by Sotheby's on March 25, 2021, lot 3. The predominantly green tutu is actually made of a subtle mix of colors that have remained in very good condition. The sitting position is eccentric and of great spontaneity, with the long hair falling in front of the face in this forward movement to catch the foot.
The room is almost full. Only a couple of seats have gone unused. We start with a Degas pastel with at least five telephones bidding up to $7.5m, almost twice the low estimate. pic.twitter.com/gjT2UNuATG
— LiveArt (@artmarket) May 12, 2022
