1896
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Signac Wild West Russia 1700-1900 Prints by Munch
See also : Signac Wild West Russia 1700-1900 Prints by Munch
1896 Matinée sur la Seine by Monet
2018 SOLD for $ 20.5M by Sotheby's
Claude Monet is obsessed with the most subtle variations in colors. The nearby river of his Giverny property offers the total tranquility needed for his unprecedented experiences. With the series of Peupliers in 1891, he installs several easels in parallel and passes from one canvas to another according to the modifications of the light.
Les Peupliers, like Les Meules in 1890-1891 and Les Cathédrales de Rouen completed in 1894, address all the hours of the day, offering too much contrasts between the paintings of the series. The success of these three sets is considerable with the public but the aesthetic result cannot fully satisfy the demanding artist.
During the summer of 1896 Monet gets up every day at 3:30am, operates up to 14 canvases in parallel with the help of an assistant always at the same place at the confluence of the Epte and the Seine rivers, paints the mists when they dissipate at sunrise and leaves for the rest of the day. The title of the series is Matinée sur la Seine. Some paintings are panoramic but others are square, which is bold for a landscape.
He has no luck. Summer and the beginning of autumn are very rainy. He finishes only four paintings at the end of this season. One of them, 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 20.5M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2018, lot 15. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia. The poor weather brings soft contrasts without saturating the shadows.
Monet returned to the same river bank in 1897 without changing anything in his creative process from the previous year, bringing the total of the Matinées to 22 paintings. One of them on which the sun rays are just reaching the trees in the background, also 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 23.4M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 26A.
Les Peupliers, like Les Meules in 1890-1891 and Les Cathédrales de Rouen completed in 1894, address all the hours of the day, offering too much contrasts between the paintings of the series. The success of these three sets is considerable with the public but the aesthetic result cannot fully satisfy the demanding artist.
During the summer of 1896 Monet gets up every day at 3:30am, operates up to 14 canvases in parallel with the help of an assistant always at the same place at the confluence of the Epte and the Seine rivers, paints the mists when they dissipate at sunrise and leaves for the rest of the day. The title of the series is Matinée sur la Seine. Some paintings are panoramic but others are square, which is bold for a landscape.
He has no luck. Summer and the beginning of autumn are very rainy. He finishes only four paintings at the end of this season. One of them, 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 20.5M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2018, lot 15. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia. The poor weather brings soft contrasts without saturating the shadows.
Monet returned to the same river bank in 1897 without changing anything in his creative process from the previous year, bringing the total of the Matinées to 22 paintings. One of them on which the sun rays are just reaching the trees in the background, also 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 23.4M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 26A.
1896 Te Arii Vahine by Gauguin
2017 SOLD for £ 8.4M by Sotheby's
In 1882 Paul Gauguin, aged 34, decides to live by and for art. This earned him nine years of brilliant creating activity but often of sordid adventures. Ruined, he moved to Polynesia.
At the end of his stay in Brittany, the Vision of the Sermon (Jacob's Fight with the Angel) (1889) was a social and religious critical comment, one of the most powerful images from the metaphysical art, but also, of course, the expression of his own doubts and anxieties. It was urgent that Gauguin keeps cool.
The Tahitian vahines are not the gullible Breton women of the Sermon, whom they do not know. Their peaceful life, close to nature, provides a boost of inspiration to the artist.
A group of women is shown in the small oil on canvas 26 x 32 cm dated 1896 titled Te Arii vahine. The two women in the foreground are nude and quiet. It was sold on June 18, 2010 by Kornfeld for CHF 5.5M before fees and for £ 8.4M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2017, lot 15.
Ihis work is one of those which prepared the two masterpieces of the Polynesian period of Gauguin : the calmed metaphysics of Qui sommes-nous Où sommes-nous Où allons-nous in 1897 and the tribute to the women in Et l'Or de leurs Corps in 1901.
At the end of his stay in Brittany, the Vision of the Sermon (Jacob's Fight with the Angel) (1889) was a social and religious critical comment, one of the most powerful images from the metaphysical art, but also, of course, the expression of his own doubts and anxieties. It was urgent that Gauguin keeps cool.
The Tahitian vahines are not the gullible Breton women of the Sermon, whom they do not know. Their peaceful life, close to nature, provides a boost of inspiration to the artist.
A group of women is shown in the small oil on canvas 26 x 32 cm dated 1896 titled Te Arii vahine. The two women in the foreground are nude and quiet. It was sold on June 18, 2010 by Kornfeld for CHF 5.5M before fees and for £ 8.4M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2017, lot 15.
Ihis work is one of those which prepared the two masterpieces of the Polynesian period of Gauguin : the calmed metaphysics of Qui sommes-nous Où sommes-nous Où allons-nous in 1897 and the tribute to the women in Et l'Or de leurs Corps in 1901.
1896 Une Calanque by Signac
2023 SOLD for £ 8M by Christie's
Paul Signac permanently settles in Saint-Tropez in 1892, the year after Seurat's death. The blazing sun enables him to improve the brightness of his landscape views following his successful trials in Brittany in the previous decade.
Saint-Tropez is decidedly Signac's paradise on earth. In 1896 he considers the soft hues of dawn on the calanque des Caroubiers in the vicinity of the village. Using a strict pointillist technique as it had been developed by Seurat and himself, he renders the quiet atmosphere and the reflection of the pines in water by a soft impression of very light blue, lilac and orange, and the deep violet shadows.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for £ 8M from a lower estimate of £ 5.5M by Christie's on June 28, 2023, lot 32.
Saint-Tropez is decidedly Signac's paradise on earth. In 1896 he considers the soft hues of dawn on the calanque des Caroubiers in the vicinity of the village. Using a strict pointillist technique as it had been developed by Seurat and himself, he renders the quiet atmosphere and the reflection of the pines in water by a soft impression of very light blue, lilac and orange, and the deep violet shadows.
This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for £ 8M from a lower estimate of £ 5.5M by Christie's on June 28, 2023, lot 32.
#AuctionUpdate Paul #Signac's 'Calanque des Canoubiers (Pointe de Bamer), Saint-Tropez' achieved £8,015,000. Bathed in the day's first glow the painting expertly captures the serenity of a Mediterranean morning: https://t.co/xqcfNpAOVT pic.twitter.com/9GWG87lQmr
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) June 28, 2023
1896 Cliffs of Green River by Moran
2015 SOLD for $ 8.6M by Christie's
The railway, superseding the dangerous Oregon trail, allows the emergence of civilization into the wilderness of the Western American territories that are not yet upgraded into states.
The village of Green River in Dakota Territory is served by the Pacific section in July 1868 before the famous transcontinental junction of 10 May 1869. Green River will be part of Wyoming in the later division of states.
Green River was incorporated as a city in 1868 and became a rallying point for geological and geographical expeditions starting with Powell in 1869.
Thomas Moran arrives by train to Green River in 1871 to join the Hayden expedition. The admirer of Turner is dazzled by the variety of colors: the reflection in water adds green and lavender to the yellow and orange of the cliffs. He immediately realizes a first watercolor. He does not seek realism but idealization and the result is sumptuous.
The Cliffs of Green River, Wyoming is one of the finest western landscapes and Moran painted this scenery in different sizes without changing the composition.
An oil on canvas 64 x 122 cm painted in 1878 was sold for $ 17.7M by Christie's on 21 May 2008. A later version in the same technique, 51 x 76 cm painted in 1896, was sold for $ 8.6M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by the same auction house on May 21, 2015, lot 7.
The village of Green River in Dakota Territory is served by the Pacific section in July 1868 before the famous transcontinental junction of 10 May 1869. Green River will be part of Wyoming in the later division of states.
Green River was incorporated as a city in 1868 and became a rallying point for geological and geographical expeditions starting with Powell in 1869.
Thomas Moran arrives by train to Green River in 1871 to join the Hayden expedition. The admirer of Turner is dazzled by the variety of colors: the reflection in water adds green and lavender to the yellow and orange of the cliffs. He immediately realizes a first watercolor. He does not seek realism but idealization and the result is sumptuous.
The Cliffs of Green River, Wyoming is one of the finest western landscapes and Moran painted this scenery in different sizes without changing the composition.
An oil on canvas 64 x 122 cm painted in 1878 was sold for $ 17.7M by Christie's on 21 May 2008. A later version in the same technique, 51 x 76 cm painted in 1896, was sold for $ 8.6M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by the same auction house on May 21, 2015, lot 7.
1896 Wounded Bunkie by Remington
2008 SOLD for $ 5.6M by Sotheby's
From his studio in New Rochelle in the suburbs of New York, Frederic Remington illustrates for the magazines the joys and torments of the frontiersmen. He wants to revive by his realism the atmosphere of the Wild West and is influenced by the decomposition of the gallop masterfully demonstrated by the photographs of Muybridge against all preconceived ideas.
When Remington becomes a sculptor, he pushes to its paroxysm the study of the imbalance in rapid movements. In 1895 his first masterpiece in that technique, The Broncho Buster, shows a tall prancing horse on his hind legs with no other support, seeking to dismantle his rider. A bronze 58 cm high edited in 1906 was sold for $ 2.6M by Christie's on November 29, 2007.
Even bolder : in 1896 the sculptor attempted a group of two in full gallop entitled The Wounded Bunkie, only connected to the base by two hoofs, one per horse in compliance with the findings of Muybridge. A bronze 51 cm high edited in the first year with a red brown patina was sold for $ 5.6M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 22, 2008, lot 171.
Quite as dynamic with its rider on a pulled up horse, the 57 cm high Outlaw, lot 167 in the same sale as the Wounded Bunkie, was sold for $ 3.4M. Edited in 1906, therefore still in the artist's lifetime, this bronze has a dark brown patina.
When Remington becomes a sculptor, he pushes to its paroxysm the study of the imbalance in rapid movements. In 1895 his first masterpiece in that technique, The Broncho Buster, shows a tall prancing horse on his hind legs with no other support, seeking to dismantle his rider. A bronze 58 cm high edited in 1906 was sold for $ 2.6M by Christie's on November 29, 2007.
Even bolder : in 1896 the sculptor attempted a group of two in full gallop entitled The Wounded Bunkie, only connected to the base by two hoofs, one per horse in compliance with the findings of Muybridge. A bronze 51 cm high edited in the first year with a red brown patina was sold for $ 5.6M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 22, 2008, lot 171.
Quite as dynamic with its rider on a pulled up horse, the 57 cm high Outlaw, lot 167 in the same sale as the Wounded Bunkie, was sold for $ 3.4M. Edited in 1906, therefore still in the artist's lifetime, this bronze has a dark brown patina.
1896 Meules et Vaches by Pissarro
2026 SOLD for $ 4.1M by Christie's
"Views in Eragny with peasant workers" refers to a major, recurring theme in Camille Pissarro’s (1830–1903) oeuvre, particularly from 1884 onward when he settled in the small rural village of Éragny-sur-Epte in Normandy (near Giverny). This body of work depicts the surrounding meadows, fields, gardens, orchards, and riverbanks, often populated by peasant workers engaged in everyday agricultural labor—harvesting, tending animals, gardening, or resting.
Pissarro produced hundreds of paintings, drawings, and prints of these motifs over nearly two decades until his death, making Éragny one of his most enduring and productive subjects. These scenes emphasize seasonal and diurnal changes in light and atmosphere (e.g., sunsets, fog, different times of day), the rhythms of rural life, and the harmonious integration of figures into the landscape. Peasant workers—frequently women, families, or individuals with tools, wheelbarrows, or livestock—are shown with dignity and matter-of-factness, not idealization or sentimentality. This reflects Pissarro’s anarchist-leaning political views, which valued communal agrarian labor, mutual aid, and a decentralized society as counterpoints to industrialization and urbanization.
Significance in Pissarro’s CareerÉragny marked a stable home base after years of financial instability and moves (including Pontoise). Pissarro rented then bought the property (with help from Monet), built a studio, and painted extensively from windows, the garden, and surrounding fields. It allowed him to balance rural and later urban series (Paris, Rouen, etc.).Artistically, these works represent his mature synthesis:
Focus on Meule et vaches dans le pré à Eragny, soleil couchant (1896)
This oil on canvas (21 ½ x 25 ¾ in. / 54.5 x 65.5 cm), signed and dated lower left, was offered as Lot 51A in Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale on May 18, 2026 (from the collection “From the Garden: An Important Private Collection”). It sold for $4,101,000. againt a lower estimate of $ 1.2M.
This larger canvas (28½ x 36 3/8 in. / 72.3 x 92.2 cm), signed and dated 1899, was was sold for $ 5.4M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 28.
Similarities:
Influence and Synthesis of Pointillism in Mature Éragny Works
The phase was short (roughly 4–5 years of heavy use) but transformative. Pissarro retained key lessons—purer, more luminous color application, optical effects, and structured yet vibrant surfaces—while returning to freer, more spontaneous brushwork.In the 1890s (the period of Meule et vaches dans le pré à Eragny, soleil couchant, 1896), this synthesis is evident. The painting uses dappled, staccato strokes that create a mosaic-like surface with interlocking warm ochres, greens, and russets. It achieves Pointillism’s chromatic clarity and luminosity without the rigidity of pure dots, restoring Impressionist immediacy and observational freshness.
Christie’s lot essay notes: “By the time Pissarro painted the present work, he had succeeded in reconciling the chromatic clarity of Pointillism with the freedom and immediacy that had characterized his earlier Impressionist practice.” This hybrid approach defined his mature Éragny output: harmonious rural scenes full of light, seasonal rhythm, and dignified peasant labor.
Pissarro produced hundreds of paintings, drawings, and prints of these motifs over nearly two decades until his death, making Éragny one of his most enduring and productive subjects. These scenes emphasize seasonal and diurnal changes in light and atmosphere (e.g., sunsets, fog, different times of day), the rhythms of rural life, and the harmonious integration of figures into the landscape. Peasant workers—frequently women, families, or individuals with tools, wheelbarrows, or livestock—are shown with dignity and matter-of-factness, not idealization or sentimentality. This reflects Pissarro’s anarchist-leaning political views, which valued communal agrarian labor, mutual aid, and a decentralized society as counterpoints to industrialization and urbanization.
Significance in Pissarro’s CareerÉragny marked a stable home base after years of financial instability and moves (including Pontoise). Pissarro rented then bought the property (with help from Monet), built a studio, and painted extensively from windows, the garden, and surrounding fields. It allowed him to balance rural and later urban series (Paris, Rouen, etc.).Artistically, these works represent his mature synthesis:
- Post-Neo-Impressionism: After experimenting with Pointillism/Divisionism (mid-1880s, influenced by Seurat and Signac), he returned to a freer, more spontaneous Impressionist touch while retaining brighter, purer color and optical effects. Éragny paintings from the 1890s often feature dappled, staccato brushwork creating luminous, harmonious surfaces.
- Thematic commitment: Unlike many Impressionists focused on bourgeois leisure or pure landscape, Pissarro uniquely emphasized rural labor and peasants as central, positive elements—rooted in his Realist influences (e.g., Millet, Courbet) and politics. These works celebrate the “fecundity of the soil” and human-nature harmony without overt drama.
- Critical and commercial role: Éragny scenes helped sustain his career, sold reliably via Durand-Ruel, and were praised for their light, optimism, and authenticity. They contrasted with his bolder urban series but were often seen as equally (or more) successful by the artist himself.
Focus on Meule et vaches dans le pré à Eragny, soleil couchant (1896)
This oil on canvas (21 ½ x 25 ¾ in. / 54.5 x 65.5 cm), signed and dated lower left, was offered as Lot 51A in Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale on May 18, 2026 (from the collection “From the Garden: An Important Private Collection”). It sold for $4,101,000. againt a lower estimate of $ 1.2M.
- Description and context: It shows a peaceful meadow at sunset with haystacks (meules), grazing cows, and a solitary peasant worker with a wheelbarrow. Warm ochres, greens, and russets dominate, with dappled brushwork evoking the fading light and end of the day’s labors. Painted from or near Pissarro’s property, it captures the seasonal rhythms he loved.
- Provenance and history: Acquired directly from the artist by Durand-Ruel in September 1896 (one of several Éragny works sold then); later passed through notable collectors including Baron Louis de Chollet, Sam Salz, Acquavella, and Mrs. Lloyd S. Gilmour (sold at Christie’s in 1980). Exhibited in 1896 at Durand-Ruel. Catalogued in major references (Venturi, Pissarro/Durand-Ruel Snollaerts).
- Artistic importance: Exemplifies his post-Divisionist style—luminous yet spontaneous. It demonstrates confidence in his evolving technique amid successful sales and reflects his deep attachment to Éragny as a site of quiet productivity and observation.
This larger canvas (28½ x 36 3/8 in. / 72.3 x 92.2 cm), signed and dated 1899, was was sold for $ 5.4M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 28.
Similarities:
- Both are mature Éragny landscapes with peasant figures integrated into the scene (workers at the edge of a field in the 1899 work).
- They use vibrant, harmonious color and observed light effects (afternoon sun vs. sunset glow).
- Post-Neo-Impressionist synthesis: dappled/ varied brushwork for luminosity and depth.
- Rural idylls emphasizing harmony, abundance, and labor; sold via Durand-Ruel; strong provenance including Sam Salz/Acquavella circles.
- Scale and composition: The 1899 painting is larger and more expansive, with vertical poplar accents, receding fences, and detailed foliage creating greater spatial depth and “terraced” abundance. The 1896 work is more intimate, focused on the meadow, haystacks, cows, and sunset intimacy.
- Date and context: 1896 is earlier in the post-Divisionist refinement; 1899 reflects peak productivity and confidence (after successful Paris exhibitions, urban series). Pissarro himself noted strong regard for his 1899 Éragny paintings.
- Figures: More prominent/ multiple peasants in the 1899 work; solitary worker in 1896.
- Market: The 1896 example achieved a strong $4.1M result in 2026 (estimate context around $1.2–1.8M), reflecting demand for fresh-to-market or sunset-themed works. The 1899 piece has a long exhibition history (Durand-Ruel shows, Met, etc.) and different auction path.
Influence and Synthesis of Pointillism in Mature Éragny Works
The phase was short (roughly 4–5 years of heavy use) but transformative. Pissarro retained key lessons—purer, more luminous color application, optical effects, and structured yet vibrant surfaces—while returning to freer, more spontaneous brushwork.In the 1890s (the period of Meule et vaches dans le pré à Eragny, soleil couchant, 1896), this synthesis is evident. The painting uses dappled, staccato strokes that create a mosaic-like surface with interlocking warm ochres, greens, and russets. It achieves Pointillism’s chromatic clarity and luminosity without the rigidity of pure dots, restoring Impressionist immediacy and observational freshness.
Christie’s lot essay notes: “By the time Pissarro painted the present work, he had succeeded in reconciling the chromatic clarity of Pointillism with the freedom and immediacy that had characterized his earlier Impressionist practice.” This hybrid approach defined his mature Éragny output: harmonious rural scenes full of light, seasonal rhythm, and dignified peasant labor.
Camille Pissarro’s 'Meule et vaches dans le pré à Eragny, soleil couchant' from From the Garden: An Important Private Collection achieves USD $4,101,000 in tonight’s 20th Century Evening Sale.
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 19, 2026
Follow along: https://t.co/IBJasg9DO4 pic.twitter.com/CYFKsZ2JiS
1896 Danseuse Rose by Degas
2021 SOLD for £ 3M by Christie's
In the 1890s the young ballerinas remain a preferred theme for Degas. Instead of visiting the backstage of the Opéra, he now paints his models in the studio. Detailed representation of the muscular movement supersedes the glamour.
Danseuse Rose is a dense interlacing of pale hues. In a moment of rest, the red haired seated girl is catching her shoe on the bench at the end of her stretched leg.
This pastel on paper 42 x 31 cm laid down on card painted ca 1896 was sold for £ 3M by Christie's on June 30, 2021, lot 16.
Danseuse Rose is a dense interlacing of pale hues. In a moment of rest, the red haired seated girl is catching her shoe on the bench at the end of her stretched leg.
This pastel on paper 42 x 31 cm laid down on card painted ca 1896 was sold for £ 3M by Christie's on June 30, 2021, lot 16.
#AuctionUpdate Edgar #Degas' 'Danseuse rose' (1896) achieves £3,022,500. The composition explores one of Degas' most important and enduring themes—that of the female dancer. The artist frequently returned to study the dancer's rare, intimate moments of repose and respite. □ pic.twitter.com/XS8DOmB0W9
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) June 30, 2021
1896 The Forest Clearing by Shishkin
2008 SOLD for $ 3.2M by Christie's
Ivan Shishkin is the painter of the Russian forest. With almost photographic details, he shows the harmonious beauty of the woods illuminated by the sun. He was recognized as one of the best Russian artists and led a landscape painting class in St. Petersburg.
He retired from teaching in 1896 and decided to devote more time to outdoor painting. He shares this activity between two residential sites, Vyra where he owns a dacha and Siverskaya which he had visited all along his career.
Gradually, his interest is shifting from realism to impression. The forest is now seen as a whole and not just as a juxtaposition of majestic trees.
An example comes from Vyra. A clearing in an oak forest, oil on canvas 119 x 171 cm, was sold for $ 3.2M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on 18 April 2008, lot 16.
Also painted by Shishkin in 1896, a twilight in the pine forest of Siverskaya, oil on canvas, 162 x 121 cm, was sold for £ 2.15M on June 5, 2013 by MacDougall's. The artist expresses the purity of the evening light after a storm. He is not a poet like Aivazovsky. His art and colors are totally realistic, but he now attaches the utmost attention to extreme lights of the day.
Unfortunately this highly creative period was too short. Shishkin died at work two years later.
He retired from teaching in 1896 and decided to devote more time to outdoor painting. He shares this activity between two residential sites, Vyra where he owns a dacha and Siverskaya which he had visited all along his career.
Gradually, his interest is shifting from realism to impression. The forest is now seen as a whole and not just as a juxtaposition of majestic trees.
An example comes from Vyra. A clearing in an oak forest, oil on canvas 119 x 171 cm, was sold for $ 3.2M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on 18 April 2008, lot 16.
Also painted by Shishkin in 1896, a twilight in the pine forest of Siverskaya, oil on canvas, 162 x 121 cm, was sold for £ 2.15M on June 5, 2013 by MacDougall's. The artist expresses the purity of the evening light after a storm. He is not a poet like Aivazovsky. His art and colors are totally realistic, but he now attaches the utmost attention to extreme lights of the day.
Unfortunately this highly creative period was too short. Shishkin died at work two years later.
1896 Landscape by Hammershøi
2024 SOLD for £ 2.34M by Christie's
Vilhelm Hammershøi is eagerly independent of all artistic trends. In the 1890s he manages to redefine the landscape painting by observing geometric details from a desperately trivial wood land, anticipating Klimt.
A landscape at Ryet is conceived in 1895 during a summer stay at Farum Lake. After a preparatory drawing, the oil on canvas 45 x 56 cm is painted in 1896. The view features two isolated tall trees, one of them before the other.
It was sold for £ 2.34M from a lower estimate of £ 500K by Christie's on March 7, 2024, lot 44.
A landscape at Ryet is conceived in 1895 during a summer stay at Farum Lake. After a preparatory drawing, the oil on canvas 45 x 56 cm is painted in 1896. The view features two isolated tall trees, one of them before the other.
It was sold for £ 2.34M from a lower estimate of £ 500K by Christie's on March 7, 2024, lot 44.
1896 Young Woman on the Beach by Munch
2013 SOLD for £ 2.13M by Christie's
Threatened by melancholy, Edvard Munch conceives ca 1891 one of his most personal themes, loneliness. A couple is on the beach, but they are quite distant from one another and their mental solitude is complete. This first painting is lost.
During his stay in Paris from 1890 to 1892 he had begun to take inspiration from post-impressionist styles to express his symbolism.
In 1896, he comes back to Paris where he perfects his experiences of all printmaking techniques. Aquatint gives the possibility to vary the balance of colors from one copy to another of the same image.
He reworks his Young woman on the beach by liberating her from her companion. A single person is indeed enough to express the loneliness. This allegorical image is one of his strongest messages.
Well centered, the lonesome figure turns her back to us as in the original picture. She is tall, and her straight attitude in her beautiful white dress shows that she has no other problem than her solitude.
The woman is standing at sea shore, turning her back to the viewer for looking at the sea. The marine breeze plays with her very long hair. Her golden hair and her long immaculate white dress are lit by the twilight sun while the scenery is already in the shadow. With her feet hidden under the dress, she looks like levitating out of space, time and society.
That 1896 dry point in 29 x 22 cm image size is printed in aquatint with burnishing in imitation of a mezzotint.
Within a total of only twelve known impressions, Gerd Woll distinguishes no fewer than seven color combinations that offer variations comparable to Monet's post-impressionist practice.
One of them from variant Woll 3 printed in light blue, brown, gray and pink was sold on March 20, 2013 by Christie's for £ 2.13M from a lower estimate of £ 500K, lot 70. This image on a 45 x 31 cm Arches laid paper, probably the untrimmed size. It is signed in pencil.
The unique Woll 5 copy printed in golden yellow, sienna, green-blue and black on a 39 x 30 cm Arches laid paper was sold for £ 1.62M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2023, lot 141. It is inscribed 3te Druck and signed by the artist in pencil. Its pastel tones in which the surrounding details are again erased reduce the contrast but reinforce the psychic mystery of this young woman.
Munch stops working in aquatint after 1897.
During his stay in Paris from 1890 to 1892 he had begun to take inspiration from post-impressionist styles to express his symbolism.
In 1896, he comes back to Paris where he perfects his experiences of all printmaking techniques. Aquatint gives the possibility to vary the balance of colors from one copy to another of the same image.
He reworks his Young woman on the beach by liberating her from her companion. A single person is indeed enough to express the loneliness. This allegorical image is one of his strongest messages.
Well centered, the lonesome figure turns her back to us as in the original picture. She is tall, and her straight attitude in her beautiful white dress shows that she has no other problem than her solitude.
The woman is standing at sea shore, turning her back to the viewer for looking at the sea. The marine breeze plays with her very long hair. Her golden hair and her long immaculate white dress are lit by the twilight sun while the scenery is already in the shadow. With her feet hidden under the dress, she looks like levitating out of space, time and society.
That 1896 dry point in 29 x 22 cm image size is printed in aquatint with burnishing in imitation of a mezzotint.
Within a total of only twelve known impressions, Gerd Woll distinguishes no fewer than seven color combinations that offer variations comparable to Monet's post-impressionist practice.
One of them from variant Woll 3 printed in light blue, brown, gray and pink was sold on March 20, 2013 by Christie's for £ 2.13M from a lower estimate of £ 500K, lot 70. This image on a 45 x 31 cm Arches laid paper, probably the untrimmed size. It is signed in pencil.
The unique Woll 5 copy printed in golden yellow, sienna, green-blue and black on a 39 x 30 cm Arches laid paper was sold for £ 1.62M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2023, lot 141. It is inscribed 3te Druck and signed by the artist in pencil. Its pastel tones in which the surrounding details are again erased reduce the contrast but reinforce the psychic mystery of this young woman.
Munch stops working in aquatint after 1897.
