Louis Abel-Truchet

Hammer Galleries, New York (until December 1960)
Sale: Christie's, New York, May 21, 1986, lot 66, illustrated
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, April 24, 2002, lot 100, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This canvas has a light lining. It is doubtful that the paint layer is clean. There are a few retouches added on top of a dirt layer around the hat and around the neck and shoulders of the redheaded woman on the left. There are some other spots of retouching in the dark clothing of the figures standing in the center. The trees and fairground activity show no retouches. If and when the picture is cleaned, more depth and brightness should emerge. The slightly darker patch around the signature in the lower right may not be original pigment and may be restoration, but there does not appear to be any actual damage here. There may be older retouches in the green dress. The condition seems to be very good overall.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Paris witnessed a dramatic proliferation of concert halls, cabarets, cinemas, circuses and cafes, many of which were chronicled by artists such as Jean Béraud, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, and Georges Seurat.  Perhaps the most exhilarating entertainment for both the public and artists, however, was that of the fête forain, a large fair bustling with attractions, games and saltimbanques, or itinerant entertainers such as tight-rope walkers, acrobats, and unusual curiosities who traveled in covered wagons and performed spectacles along Parisian avenues.  In an 1897 issue of Figaro Illustré, one observer chronicled the Forains et Saltimbanques on the avenue of Neuilly saying: “Oh the fair of Neuilly… From Flobert shooting galleries to panoramas about Franco-Russian alliance, from snake-like ladies to Lapland dwarfs, from gunmen to fortune tellers, one can picturesquely kill one’s day without going bankrupt.  Long live the fair of Neuilly!” (as quoted in Phillip Dennis Cate, “The Cult of the Circus,” Barbara Stern Shapiro, ed., Pleasures of Paris, Daumier to Picasso, Boston, 1991, p. 40). 

In the present work, Abel-Truchet portrays an evening at la fête forain in the Place Pigalle, a public square at the foot of Montmarte surrounded by cafés and artist studios.  His use of bold colors and contours as well as his spontaneous brushwork captures the energy and excitement of the scene, and is a testament to the influence of Impressionism on his body of work. Just below a Ferris Wheel in the background whirls a colorful carousel, and in nearby stall number 30 stand a clown, a body-builder, two ballerinas, and a parrot. The enthusiastic crowd prismatically multiplies under a myriad of flickering lights, which showcase the awe-inspiring novelties of electricity and the gas lamp.  Perhaps the most arresting figures in this scene are the two unaccompanied, tightly corseted, fashionable women who parade through the foreground. Their thickly applied makeup suggests a penchant for artifice among the night’s visitors to the Place Pigalle and its surroundings, including the Moulin Rouge, just down the road.  Such chronicles of the amusements enjoyed by the French public at the turn of the century remain among the most distinguished compositions of Abel-Truchet’s career.