LEON AUGUSTIN LHERMITTE (FRENCH 1844-1925)Depart des laveuses le soir, 1892oil on canvas98 x 78 cm (38 1/2 x 30 3/4 in.)signed and dated lower left L Lhermitte 1892PROVENANCEAcquired from Boussod, Valadon & Cie, Paris (no. 22249)Collection of John Parkinson, Boston, MAMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston (loan 1920-1946)Vose Galleries, Boston, MACollection of Jacob L. Rosenthal, New York, NYPrivate Collection, New YorkEXHIBITEDSalon de la Societe nationale des beaux-arts, 1892, no. 683Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 1920-1946LITERATURENew York Herald, March 29, 1892Doumic R. le Moniteur universel, May 5, 1892Fourtel Eugene, le Petit Marseillais, May 5, 1892les Petites Nouvelles, May 5, 1892Andre A. la France nouvelle, May 6, 1892Cardon E., le Moniteur des arts, May 6, 1892Correspondence Haras, May 6, 1892Fremine Ch., le Rappel, May 7, 1892l'Electeur, May 7, 1892Silvestre A. l'Echo de Paris, May 7, 1892De Fontissant M., le Telegraphe, May 9, 1892Dac H., le Monde, May 16, 1892Godin H., la Revue des Beaux-Arts, May 21, 1892l'Echo republicain, May 27, 1892De Gourcoff O., l'Avenir national, May 28, 1892Dalligny A., le Journal des arts, May 31, 1892le Phare de Dunkerque, June 10, 1892Talansier Ch., le Genie civil, July 2, 1892Furnel Ch., Revue moderne, September 10, 1892Hamel M. M., op cit., C 184, cat. No. 181Monique Le Pelley Fonteny, Leon Augustin Lhermitte: 1844-1925, Catalogue Raisonne, (Paris: Editions Cercle D`Art, 1991), p. 136, no. 160, illustrated LOT NOTESLeon Lhermitte spent the formative years of his life in rural northern France before moving to Paris at the age of 19 in 1863 to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and debuting at the salon the following year. He has been praised for his monumental and unsentimental treatment of the peasant life with which he himself was so familiar from an early age. Lhermitte at once showed the hard, daily toil of the rural working class and imbued his subjects with a sense of dignity so often lacking in the works of his predecessors. Lhermitte revisited the subject of women doing laundry on the banks of the Marne on several occasions, but this composition focusing on two young women at dusk is among his most striking. When Depart des Laveuses le Soir was shown in 1892 at the Salon exhibition of the new Societe nationale des beaux-arts it caused quite a stir, and in the catalogue raisonne Monique Le Pelley Fonteny has accrued an extensive list of reviews and mentions of the painting in contemporary publications. In the 20th century, the work continued to fascinate and inspire its audience during the decades it was at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.Ever since first seeing his work in the early 1880s, Vincent van Gogh was taken with the Lhermitte: “He`s a master of the figure. He`s able to do what he likes with it -- conceiving the whole neither from the color nor from the local tone, but rather proceeding from the light -- as Rembrandt did -- there`s something astonishingly masterly in everything he does -- in modeling, above all things, he utterly satisfies the demands of honesty.” (Letter to his brother Theo, September 2, 1885)In the dapples of soft pink on a robin egg blue sky, the reflections of the setting sun in the water highlighted with scrapes from the wooden end of the brush, and the delicate silhouette of the carefully modeled peasant woman`s profile shimmering in the twilight, one can sense Lhermitte`s attempt to create a synergy between the teaching of the academies and the play of light using unadulterated colors popularized by the Impressionists. The admiration heaped upon Lhermitte by the van Gogh brothers may have also contributed to the artist`s association with Boussod, Valadon & Cie, the prominent international gallery which signed an exclusive contract of representation with Lhermitte in 1887. Vincent van Gogh (the uncle of the painter) was a partner at the firm, and both of the brothers were at one point or another employed by the gallery, as well.PLEASE NOTEIf you will be bidding live on auction day, please note that Session I of the Auction (Asian and Russian Fine & Decorative Art), starts at 10:00 AM New York Time and goes from Lot 1 through Lot 254. Session II of the Auction (European, American and International Fine & Decorative Art) starts at 3:00 PM New York Time and goes from Lot 500 through Lot 676. We sell approximately 70 lots per hour.
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