Jean-Charles Cazin

Ploughing

c. 1870

Signed and dated Barbizon School landscape oil on panel by French painter Henri Joseph Harpignies. The work depicts the trees lining the banks of the River Loing at Saint Prive in no...

A beautiful watercolour and chalk on paper circa 1860 by French Barbizon painter Henri Joseph Harpignies. The piece depicts figures beside the river Seine in Paris with a view of the Île de la Cité and the Notre Dame Cathedral behind on what looks to be a cool autumn day with the leaves of the trees beginning to turn brown. Signed lower right. Dimensions: Framed: 20"x23.5" Unframed: 10"x13.5" Provenance: M. Knoedler & Co. New York Christie's - New York Saint-Privé is a French commune located in the department of Yonne in region Bourgogne-Franche-Comt Born in Valenciennes, Henri Harpignies...

Signed Barbizon figures in landscape pastel on paper circa 1885 by French painter Leon Augustin Lhermitte. The piece depicts a first communion ceremony, with girls in white dresses and headscarves walking through a village as elder women look on. A wonderful piece in the artist's distinctive style. Signature: Signed lower left Dimensions: Framed: 27"x31" Unframed: 20"x24" Provenance: Arthur Tooth & Sons - London (label verso) Léon Augustin Lhermitte was the son of a school teacher. He painted from a very early age and settled in Paris in 1863, enrolling in the École Impériale de Dessin. His teacher was Lecocq de Boisboudran. In the early days of his career he earned a living doing illustrations for boxes of sweets and the catalogues of the cabinet-makers of the Faubourg St-Antoine, as well as publishing houses. In 1879 he went to Great Britain, to which he returned frequently. The same year he met the art dealer Paul Durant-Ruel who exhibited his works. He was one of the founders of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, of which he became vice-president. Lhermitte initially produced charcoal drawings which revealed his deep feeling for nature. His first attempt, Banks of the Marne near Alfort, caused a sensation. Following this he executed canvases, showing himself to be a fine landscape artist and a skilful draughtsman. He painted scenes from rural life almost exclusively and benefited from exceptional interest generated by the prizes awarded to the works of J. F. Millet. But although he was very much affected by the work of the painter of Angelus, he himself sought only the pictorial element and not a synthetic translation. Many other French masters of the period share his completely objective vision, for example Bastien Lepage, Roll, J. C. Cazin and Rafaelli. Like them, he put into practice very early on the technique of 'clear painting' made fashionable by the pursuit of Impressionism. But this group of artists borrowed from this method only those elements which appealed to public taste, and ignored chromatic elements. Lhermitte also paid the price for the easy success of those early days. His peasants, which found general favour with the public at the time, nowadays seem rather feeble alongside Camille Pissarro's renderings of the same subject. However, in order to pass judgement on an artist such as Lhermitte, it is necessary to understand the era in which he worked, the era in which Realism was the only acceptable approach. It was in the atmosphere of the 'Théâtre Libre' of Antoine and the novels of Maupassant, Zola and their imitators that this type of art developed. In this context, Lhermitte is recognised as having painted the life of the peasants with great powers of objective observation and great insight into types and physiognomies. Nothing escaped his implacable eye and his bold and vigorous hand was guided by a lucid mind. The simplest elements of nature take on an air of true grandeur in his painting, despite their romantic and sentimental aspects. He is highly regarded both in France and in other countries by art lovers who look for nothing more than an attractive subject expertly painted. Among his most noteworthy works, outside those in museums, are: Les Halles, Washing the Sheep, Haymaking Time, and his large decorative panel...

A beautiful painting of a figure walking by a windmill on a sunny day by Henri Duhem. Oil on panel. Signed lower right and dated 1906 verso. This painting is not currently framed but...

Oil on panel by French painter Henri Duhem depicting soldiers resting outside in the shade as the sun sets. Signed lower right and dated 1909 verso. This painting is not currently fr...

Oil on panel by French painter Henri Duhem depicting a lone man by an outhouse in a field. Signed lower right and dated 1904 verso. This painting is not currently framed but a suitab...

Charles Francis De Klyn was born in Westchester County, New York, in 1865. A landscape, marine, portrait and figure painter, De Klyn studied in New York and Paris from 1886 to 1891, then taught at the Cleveland Art Club and the Cleveland School of Art. In 1893, he was one of the founders of the Cleveland Brush and Palette Club, and he exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1894 and 1895. He was also a member of the Society of Western Artists. "A Fontainebleu" by Charles Francis De Klyn is a beautifully rendered Barbizon oil...

There is a lot to see in this delicate, luminous landscape: a little fisherman, a figure in his canoe, and the beautiful light on the water. It is an ...

Nobody quite does moonlight quite like Camille Corot. Moonlit landscapes suited the artist's discreet artist's personality and painting. As Baudelaire astutely observed: "M. Corot is...

BLOOMERS "L’attente” Oil on panel. 30 x 26.5 cm. Signed lower right Son of a talented lithographer, he was initially destined for the same profession as his father. But at the Acade...

Large 19th century Barbizon painting "The outdoor concert" This peaceful and dreamy painting depicts a group of elegantly dressed people in a magnificent park. The painting has wond...

The Barbizon Forest circle of Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (French 19th century bears signature, oil on wood panel (cradled), unframed panel: 30 x 19 inches provenance: private collec...