Gustave Loiseau

Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired directly from the artist in 1899)
M. Monsieur François Depeaux, Rouen (acquired from the above in 1901)
Galerie Durand Ruel, Paris (acquired from the above in 1906)
X.M. Breteau Antony, France (acquired from the above in 1945)
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the above in 1946)
Arthur Tooth & Sons, London (acquired in 1964)
Private Collection, London (acquired from the above circa 1965)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Gustave Loiseau, 1963, no. 4
London, Arthur Tooth & Sons, The Rim of Impressionism, 1965, no. 16

The canvas is not lined and is on its original stretcher. Some original pigments fluoresce under UV light but there are no signs of retouching apparent. There are a few isolated small spots of paint loss in places and some fine lines of craquelure which are not disturbing. The surface is richly textured and well preserved. This work is in overall very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1899, Gustave Loiseau’s Rives de l'Eure en été depicts a magnificent row of poplar trees standing on the edge of the river Eure in Normandy. This enchanting and wonderfully evocative composition is imbued with the soft rose light of a late summer’s afternoon as a gentle breeze rustles the uppermost leaves of the trees. The extraordinarily rich surface, composed using vigorous brushwork and areas of dappling paint, exemplifies the technical virtuosity Loiseau had achieved by the end of the decade.

An inherent part of the landscape of northern France, avenues of poplar trees are the most identifiable recurring motif in Loiseau’s work from the 1890s. Loiseau shared a dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, with Claude Monet at this time in his career and the younger artist was no doubt aware of the importance of the poplar tree as a subject in the master Impressionist’s paintings of the 1880s and 1890s. As they had in Monet’s depictions, the poplar trees were taken as a singular device upon which Loiseau could render the vicissitudes of temporal conditions and experiment with artistic notions. A devotee to painting en plein air, Loiseau would watch with a hunter’s concentration for the precise moment when light shimmered on grass or on the silvery underside of leaves or on the surface of water. In the present work, the brilliant acuity of the artist’s observations of light and shade drawn directly from nature is matched only by the sublime harmony of his palette and brushwork. Loiseau has relinquished any idea of local incident or focal point so that the trees present a frieze that the eye can study back and forth, as if exploring a fluttering wall of leaves, sky and sunlight.

Underlying the beauty of Rives de l'Eure en été is a subject with special significance for the citizens of France. During the French Revolution the poplar had been selected as the tree of liberty. Paul Tucker tells us that ‘the reasons for this choice remain obscure, but it was most likely due to the derivation of the name from the Latin populous, which means both “people” and “popular.” Whatever the rationale, by 1793, 60,000 poplars had been planted in France and hundreds of broadsides had been issued with the tree as a symbol of the new republic’ (Paul Tucker, Monet in the 90s, The Series Paintings, Boston, 1989, p. 138). The poplar continued as an important political symbol during the nineteenth century, and in 1889, at the time of the hundred-year anniversary of the Revolution, there were again ceremonial plantings of poplars throughout the country.

In Rives de l'Eure en été, Loiseau has immortalised the most ephemeral and exquisite qualities of light to produce a painting of magical lightness and an intrinsic poetic quality that far surpasses the straight depiction of nature. Owned by Durand-Ruel at several junctures in its history, this painting has remained in the same family since it was last publicly exhibited in 1965.