Jean-Charles Cazin

Ploughing

c. 1870

Signed oil on board landscape circa 1860 by Barbizon painter Narcisse Diaz de la Pena. The work depicts a view of a clearing in a forest, with large rocks scattered around. A break above the trees shows a dark nighttime sky. Signature: Signed lower left Dimensions: Framed: 27"x32" Unframed: 17"x22" Provenance: Vente Diaz, Hotel Drouot, Paris, January 1877 Holland Galleries, New York c. 1900 M. Knoedler Gallery, New York; Valuable Modern Paintings Collected by the Late James Buchanan Brady Sotheby's - Sale of James Buchanan Brady at the American Art Association, New York, January 14, 1918 (Sold $1,550.00 USD) Collection Lawrence & Champeau East, New York Literature: This work is included in the Catalogue Raisonne of Narcisse Diaz - Pierre Miquel, Rolande Miquel, Narcisse Diaz De la Pena, Catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre peint 2006, vol. II, p. 186, no. 1209, illustrated Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña's father, Thomas, a bourgeois from Salamanca exiled by King Joseph following a political conspiracy, had settled in Bordeaux with his wife Maria Manuela Belasco. The family then moved to England, believing they could find a safer sanctuary there. However, Thomas died after three years, leaving Maria with sole responsibility for her child's education. She returned to France, moving to Bordeaux, Montpellier and Lyons in quick succession before finally settling in Paris, where she supported herself and her son by teaching. Narcisse was scarcely ten years old when she died, and he was taken in by a Protestant minister who led a secluded life at Bellevue. He took refuge in solitude, spending time in the woods at Fleury, Meudon, Sèvres and St-Cloud. Whilst out walking, he was bitten by a viper and had to undergo an amputation due to blood poisoning. He initially found employment with a printer, where he worked under particularly difficult conditions, before finding employment in a porcelain factory in Paris. He studied for a while with the painter Souchon, David's former pupil, although Diaz was largely self-taught. He exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon in 1831, and then nearly every year from 1834 to 1859, sometimes showing three or even four pictures. In 1831, he exhibited Love Scene. In 1834, he showed Flight of the Turks; A Turk; View of the Region around Saragossa; and Archers Pursuing Wicked Boys. In 1835: the Battle of Medina-Coeli; Spanish Girls Bathing by a River; and Park, Stirling Castle. In 1836, the Adoration of the Shepherds. In 1837: Ferry Crossing with the Effect of the Setting Sun; A Mill, Sunset Effect; and View of the Gorges of Apremont. In 1838: Old Ben Emeck, Retired to Lush Countryside, Tells His Wives the Extraordinary Adventures of His Life as a Pirate. In 1840: Nymphs in Calypso's Grotto Sing of the Battles of Ulysses; and Women of Algiers. In 1841: The Dream; and Flight into the Desert. In 1844: View of Bas-Bréau; Bohemians Going to a Festival; Evil Spell; and Oriental Woman. In 1845: Portraits of Mme A.; Mme L. L; and Mme de T. In 1846: Deserted Women; Garden of Love; Forest Interior; Enchantress; Leda; Oriental Woman; Desertion; and Wisdom. In 1847: Bas-Bréau; Forest Interior; Dogs in a Forest; Oriental Repose, The Dream; Oriental Woman; Women of Algiers; Conversation; Cupid Waking a Nymph; and Bathing Girl In 1848: Diana Departing for the Hunt; Venus and Adonis; Bohemians Listening to the Predictions of a Young Girl; The Walk; and Pack in the Forest of Fontainebleau. In 1855: Last Tears; Nymph Tormented by Cupid; The Rival; Nymph Asleep; and End of a Beautiful Day. In 1859: Galatea; Cupid's Education; Venus and Adonis; Cupid Punished; Don't Come In; Fairy with Toys; Viper Pond; and Portraits of Mme A. F. and Mme S.. Diaz was primarily an independent painter. The essential and characteristic difference between Diaz's style and that of, say, Théodore Rousseau resides in the fact that Diaz painted the ephemeral. In his woodland scenes, he observes the movements of light and shade over a very small area. By contrast, Rousseau paints vast landscapes, evoking a sense of permanence that corresponds to their dimensions, in which variations of light and shade do not appreciably affect the subject as a whole. Diaz was essentially a painter of the moment, and because of his 'snapshot' approach he can be considered a Pre-Impressionist. His influence was far-reaching. Monticelli, who used a knife and depicted forms imprecisely, was influenced by him, as was Fantin-Latour, who adopted the same principles and used no definite structure in his brushwork. Fantin-Latour was a great friend of Renoir, in whose home it wasn't unusual to find Diaz. Diaz's colour and design, and even his brushwork, can be found in Ziem's Venetian extravaganzas and magical oriental worlds. Comprehensive exhibitions of his work have been rare, although he is frequently represented in group exhibitions dedicated to the development of landscape painting or to the Barbizon School. However, the 1877 exhibition at the École National des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the 1968 exhibition at the Pavillon des Arts in Paris are worthy of note. Museum and Gallery Holdings Amsterdam: Idyll; Flowers Amsterdam (Stedelijk Mus.): Flowers; The Wood; Eurydice Wounded Bayonne: Landscape Berlin: Forest Interior Béziers: Landscape Bordeaux: Forest of Fontainebleau Chantilly: Mme la Duchesse d'Aumale's Bedroom Ceiling Clamecy: Forest Study Glasgow: In the Forest; Flowers; Flowers Grenoble: Cupid Disarmed...

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