Van Gogh Museum Journal 2000

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Camille Pissarro
Still life with peonies and mock orange 1872-74 and 1876-77

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Catalogue of acquisitions: paintings and drawings August 1999 - July 2000

This catalogue contains all paintings and drawings acquired by the Van Gogh Museum from August 1999 to July 2000. Each work has an inventory number made up as follows: the first letter stands for the technique (s = painting, d = drawing); this is followed by a reference number and then by a capital letter (B = loan, N = State of the Netherlands, S = Van Gogh Museum [after 1 July 1994], V = Vincent van Gogh Foundation) and the year of acquisition.

Paintings

Pissarro, Camille
French, 1830-1903

Still life with peonies and mock orange 1872-74 and 1876-77
Oil on canvas, 81 × 64.5 cm
Stamp lower right: C.P.; next to this, part of a signature, C. Pissarro, is visible, later painted over
s 502 V/2000

According to Pissarro and Venturi's oeuvre catalogue of 1939, Camille Pissarro produced more than 1, 300 paintings, only some 20 of which are still lifes. Fourteen of these are flower paintings; seven are dated. This work, donated to the Van Gogh Museum by the Sara Lee Corporation, belongs to the group of undated flower paintings. Although traditionally thought to have been executed in 1878, this dating is no longer accepted.

The still life has been worked at on two clearly separate occasions. The foreground, originally green, has been painted over in red, while the background and parts of the bouquet have probably been reworked as well. However, the paint surface is so uniformly dense, comprising numerous small dabs of colour, that it is difficult to determine the exact nature of the later changes and additions. Nevertheless, we do know that the artist initially considered his first version to be finished, for part of his signature, later painted over in red, can still be seen in the foreground.

Richard Brettell believes that these two painting sessions took place in 1872-74 and 1876-78 respectively, when Pissarro was engaged in creative rivalry with his friend Paul Cézanne. Although their still lifes from this period do indeed evince a certain amount of interplay, it is difficult to decide whether this work should be counted among them. Theoretically, the first version could have been painted in the period 1872-74, while the reworking might have occurred In 1876-78.

Pissarro's wife loved peonies, which may account for the composition of this summer bouquet. The vase, which is Chinese in appearance, does not feature in other Pissarro still lifes. Although the dimensions of the painting - unusual in the artist's still life group - correspond to the standard number 10 format (81 × 65 cm), it is no longer possible to tell whether the artist actually used a readymade canvas. At some point the picture was lined and the edges cut off.

Still life with peonies and mock orange is the first painting by Camille Pissarro to enter the Van Gogh Museum's collection. As such it is a valuable addition to the artist's two drawings already present, both of which came from the estate of Theo van Gogh and Johanna van Gogh-Bonger. Although Theo never owned a painting by Pissarro, his widow did: in 1892 she exchanged Vincent's Mulberry tree of 1889 (Pasadena, Norton Simon Foundation) for a Pissarro painting about which nothing is known but its format - 55 × 46 cm. In 1897 Johanna sold this work to the Parisian dealer Ambroise Vollard. Its absence from the family collection, today housed in the Van Gogh Museum, has now been compensated, as it were, by the Sara Lee Corporation's gift.

Provenance Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro, Rouen; Richard Semmel, New York; Sam Salz, New York (1959); Nathan Cummings, New York; Mrs Robert B. Mayer, Chicago; The Sara Lee Collection; Sara Lee Corporation Millennium Gift (2000).

Literature Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro and Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro: son art, son oeuvre, 2 vols., Paris 1939, vol. 1, p. 146, vol. 2, pl. 95; Joachim Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York 1993, pp. 271, 274; Richard R. Bretell, An impressionist legacy: the collection of Sara Lee Corporation, New York 1993, pp. 36, 165; idem, Monet to Moore: the millennium gift of Sara Lee Corporation, New Haven & London 1999, p. xviii, fig. 17, pp. 144-47, no. 37.

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Drawings

Hayet, Louis
French, 1864-1940

City view with carriage stop 1887-88
Pencil, transparent and opaque watercolour on canvas, 10.6 × 16.5 cm (the canvas 12 × 18 cm) d 1098 S/2000

Louis Hayet is best known for his association with the neo-impressionist movement in the 1880s. His oeuvre mainly comprises paintings and drawings of landscapes and city views. Hayet proved a skilled draughtsman at an early age. In 1881, long before his introduction to the Parisian avant-garde, he became familiar with the colour theories of Michel-Eugène Chevreul. In 1884 he settled in Paris, where he met Lucien and Camille Pissarro and, at a later stage, Signac, Seurat and the young artists in their circle.

Having read Chevreul, Hayet was naturally highly receptive to the scientific approach to painting and the colour theories then popular with the Parisian avant-garde. He made a serious study of these theories, producing the obligatory circles and other aids to understanding the colour issue. He worked in the pointillist vein and liked to employ complementary contrasts.

Such contrasts also feature in this small watercolour drawing on canvas. The dominant tones in the composition are blue and orange, a complementary combination often found in Hayet's work. The only other colour present is the green used for the trees and, less conspicuously, for the carriages and street. The colours are unmixed and are applied loosely over an extremely sketchy under-drawing. The modest format is also typical of Hayet's watercolour drawings: he seems to have preferred to work on this scale or only slightly larger. The piece can be dated to 1887-88 on stylistic grounds.

Although it is safe to assume that the drawing represents a view in Paris, the exact location cannot be identified. To the left is a horse and carriage. Behind these are two or three similar conveyances; here the stipple technique, particularly the relatively large foreground dots, has interfered somewhat with the readability of the image.

The painting collection of the Van Gogh Museum contains several examples of pointillist works. However, this is the first pure specimen of the technique to enter the drawing collection. The first known owner of the picture was the neo-impressionist scholar Dr Jean Sutter, who studied Hayet's oeuvre and also collected his work.

Provenance Jean Sutter, Sotheby's (London), 8 December 1977, lot 322; Ivo Bouwman, The Hague; private collector; Ivo Bouwman, The Hague; purchased by the Van Gogh Museum with funds provided by the Friends of the Van Gogh Museum (2000).

Literature Guy Dulon and Christophe Duvivier, Louis Hayet, 1864-1940: peintre et théoricien du néo-impressionisme, Pontoise 1991, p. 76 (ill.).

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Neuville, Alphonse-Marie de
French, 1835-1885

After the battle
Black crayon, ink, highlighted with white, 26.8 × 41.2 cm
Signed lower left: A. de Neuville
d 1097 S/1999

De Neuville was a pupil of Edouard Picot and Eugène Delacroix. Along with Ernest Meissonier and Edouard Detaille he was one of the masters of French military painting. During the Franco-Prussian War he witnessed the horrors of battle at first-hand. Together with Detaille, he painted the celebrated panorama of the Battle of Gravelotte.

This drawing depicts the devastation following the blowing up of part of a bridge. Night has descended and the damage is now being assessed. Eight fallen soldiers - French, judging by their uniforms - lie on the riverbank, probably thrown there by the force of the explosion. De Neuville has seized on this catastrophe as an opportunity to depict the lantern effect and the stars.

Provenance Donated by J. Brouwer on the occasion of the reopening of the Van Gogh Museum (1999).

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Renié, Jean-Émile
French, c. 1835-1910

Portrait of the painter Diaz
Black and white crayon on paper, 40 × 33.4 cm
d 1096 S/1999

Renié's work is modelled on that of the masters of the Barbizon School. Thought to have received lessons from Théodore Rousseau, Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña and Jean-François Millet, he usually painted scenes of the forest of Fontainebleau and views of Venice.

The subject of this work is probably Renié's teacher Diaz, whom he here shows at an advanced age. The rendering of the sitter's wiry beard, moustache and sideburns introduces an element of virtuosity and gives contour to the face. In both written works and pictures Diaz was often presented as a jovial character, who thought nothing of banging his wooden leg on the table. By not portraying the painter in full-length Renié avoids all allusion to such comical stories. The dark background and pose make no reference to the sitter's profession, suggesting that Renié produced the drawing either for Diaz or for himself, as a memento of his master.

Provenance Donated by J. Brouwer on the occasion of the re-opening of the Van Gogh Museum (1999).