Barbizon: Journey to Impressionism
NOEL, Jules Achille (1815-1881)
L'arrivee a Honnebon
Oil on canvas 15 x 21 1/2 inches
It seems most fitting that the first exhibition to be held in our new Salon, (Located at 260 North Rodeo Dr) be our highly anticipated 19th Century Barbizon School Weekend, Friday November 20th and Saturday November 21st. These pioneering plein air masters were not only the fore-bearers of Impressionism but are acknowledged as the Artists who began the journey to modern art by breaking free from the salon restrictions and academic controls, ultimately changing the coarse of art history as they new it.
In our ongoing quest and commitment to present and offer the finest works available, we have searched the world over and discovered many important works of art which will be unveiled during this extraordinary exhibition.
Additionally, we are delighted to announce the return of the world renowned scholar and lecturer Dr. Steven Adams, Professor at The University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield UK, and lecturer at the Victoria and Albert Museum and National Gallery in London. Dr. Adams will be giving an in depth, informative lecture on the new Barbizon collection. The lecture will present comprehensive insight into the seminal evolution of “Plein Aire”, Nineteenth Century painting in Barbizon. Dr. Steven Adams is also the author of “The Barbizon School & the Origins of Impressionism” one of the most important books on the Barbizon school.
The Barbizon Weekend will include the following events:

6:30 pm Exhibition Opening at Galerie Michael's New Space:
260 North Rodeo Drive
Saturday, November 21st
12:00pm Brunch at Galerie Michael and the Annex
12:45 pm Dr. Steven Adams Guest Lecture
2:30/3:00pm LACMA Tour- contact your consultant for details and to RSVP
* other events to be planned.

Paintbrush in hand, their singular mission was the honest depiction of the rural landscape and its inhabitants. They truly worshiped the land around them and held it sacred in a literal sense.
all the religion of your heart. In so you will end up dreaming of the life of the infinite.
Do not copy what you see with mathematical precision, instead feel and convey the
real world which enfolds you in all its inevitability."
Along with this new appreciation of the natural world came a

MORGAN,
Frieriet (The Proposal)
Oil on canvas. 50 3/8 x 33 1/8 ”
Frederick Morgan was a British artist who studied in the studio of the eminent French history painter Thomas Couture, Manet’s teacher and one of the most prominent history painters of the mid nineteenth century. Like many foreign painters who gravitated to
In this picture, Morgan, shows rural life with a simple charm. The peasant girl is momentarily distracted by her suitor. Like many British painters of the period, Morgan gives his work and anecdotal twist. The girl sports a flower in her chemise, given to her, we assume, by her suitor; her fingers are entwined with his and to the lower right of the picture, a vine also appears to have designs on her body. The English writer John Ruskin insisted on the importance of the accurate representation of nature and of art’s moralizing role. Morgan’s painting rises to Ruskin’s challenge magnificently. Every part of the composition is shown in minute detail. As the girl seems to weigh her response to her suitor in the balance, the mood of the picture is enhanced by the soft evening light. Morgan’s paintings were enormously popular in
BILLET,
La rammasseuse de bois
Oil on canvas. 60 ½ x 41 ¾ ”
Jules Breton was one of the most prominent peasant painters in the second half of the nineteenth century. First trained in St.-Omer in to life size. Paintings of peasants were common throughout the nineteenth century but they are often shown on a small scale (pictured left Diaz de la Pena Interieur de Foret, Oil on canvas, 909577). Much less common is the depiction of a humble subject on such an heroic scale.
The later nineteenth century saw the gradual demise of a conservative prejudice that insisted that respectable art should appeal to an intellectual elite and that the most dignified painting was the depiction of heroes from classical literature. Breton did much to overturn this prejudice. A favorite of Parisian audiences, Breton showed regularly in the annual Salon. He also received lucrative commission from the French government. Pictures such as the one shown here (above) were especially popular both in
By the end of the century, Breton was one of the most important painters in
VEYRASSAT, Jules Jacques, 1828-1893
La pose sur le chemin de halage
oil on wooden panel 9 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches
CHAIGNEAU, Jean Ferndinand, 1879-1938
La nuit étoilée à
Oil on canvas. 46 x 35 ”
Signed lower left. Dedicated to Emile Zola on back lower stretcher bar.
Exhibited at L'Association Franco-Américaine de Peinture et de Sculpture, a society for the promotion of French art in the United States and American art in France, Chaigneau’s painting owes much to Millet’s picture of two peasants pausing at prayer, the famous Angelus of 1857-9. Millet’s painting was commissioned originally by a wealthy American collector, one Thomas G. Appleton. The painting was enormously popular in the
Chaigneau’s painting is also a reminder that the essence of and early twentieth centuries. American audiences found Chaigneau’s work especially appealing. The highest kind of art, the correspondent for the New York Times wrote in 1890, was religious art, not the institutional religious art of old Europe with is saints and virgins but an art that reflects homespun independence, dignity in labor and a veneration of rural life, values that resonated with American sensibilities. Chaigneau’s landscape is exceptional not least because it was dedicated to the French art critic Emile Zola. Throughout his career, Zola championed the cause of artists of independent spirit – not least Manet and members of the Impressionist circle - and was a keen art collector. In Chaigneau’s painting we see the durability of the Barbizon tradition, a tradition recognized abroad and, not least, by one of
Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Pena
Jeune Paysanne en costume italien
Signed lower right: N Diaz
Oil on paper mounted on panel
12 x 9 1/8 inches (30.5 x 23 cm)
We know Diaz de la Pena primarily as a landscape painter. He was one of the first members of the painter able to turn his hand not only to landscapes like the one to the left (Faggot Gathering in the Forest, oil on canvas, 908005) but also to still life (below Fluers, oil on cancas, 910216) and in this instance popular genre painting. Here Diaz shows a young Italian peasant girl in traditional costume, reflecting on a flower in her left hand. Pictures such as these were enormously popular with the middle class Parisian art lovers who dominated the market for smaller pictures in the mid nineteenth century.
dramatic color. But Diaz is no less a draftsman. Trained as a porcelain painter in the early part of his career, Diaz renders the girls hands with perfect confidence, drawing on a wide range of painting techniques, some patient and painstaking, others remarkable for their bravura. It is little wonder the Renoir, also trained, as a humble porcelain painter as a young man, was so beguiled with the paintings of Diaz.
*Special thanks to Dr. Steven Adams (renowned Barbizon scholar, lecturer, and professor), Michael Schwartz (owner and president of Galerie Michael) and Robert Avellano (Fine Art Consultant).
Make the Barbizon Weekend a family trip as well, located right in front of Galeire Michael the Beverly Hills Annual Lighting Ceremony will take place on November 21st at the 2 Rodeo Complex. The times and events are listed below:
3:00 pm - Family friendly live entertainment kicks-off throughout the golden triangle with Santa & Mrs. Claus available for photos at Two Rodeo.
7:00 pm - Lighting Ceremony with fireworks and music from Beverly Hills High School's own Madrigals
7:30 pm - Winter Wonderland after party at Two Rodeo with participating boutiques serving holiday treats, a lively and festive holiday steel drum band, and snow falling over the Via Rodeo
No comments:
Post a Comment