Lot Essay
The composition and the colours of the present painting are very close to 'Les Meules' (1889) by Finch, acquired by Octave Maus in 1890 and now in the collection of the Museé des Beaux Arts in Brussels. When Georges Seurat exhibited his painting 'Un Dimanche à la Grande Jatte' at Les XX in 1887 he created a real event among the Brussels' art world. Many critcs refused to acknowledge the divisionist movement, but artists such as Finch and Van Rijsselberghe were very impressed by the techniques employed. In a letter to Paul Signac, dated April 1887, Finch expresses his curiosity:"J'ai été profondément remué par les toiles de M.M. Seurat et Pissarro, qui étaient aux XX. Je viens vous prier de m'indiquer un livre qui traite de la décomposition des couleurs... Pensez vous que ce livre me sera utile? Il y a beaucoup de choses que je vois en nature, mais je ne m'explique pas. Je n'aime pas à tatonner, le point de départ me manque, c'est à dire le côté scientifique."
While this painting was executed in the same year as 'L'Hippodrome Wellington, pluie fine', in which Finch has already embodied the technique of colour divisionism, his approach of the subject in 'Route de Nieuport' is much closer to Seurat's principles. Whereas in the first of these paintings the subject is the focus, one can see that in the latter the painter tries to give a structure to the composition through the electric poles and their shadows, the road perspective and the shadow of a house in the right corner of the picture. In a way it is his first attempt to create a timeless painting, a goal he fully realised in 1890 with 'Verger à la Louvière' and 'Estacade à Heist'.
We kindly thank Danielle Derrey-Capon, currently working on the Catalogue Raisonné on the artist's work, for her help in cataloguing this lot.
See colour illustration
While this painting was executed in the same year as 'L'Hippodrome Wellington, pluie fine', in which Finch has already embodied the technique of colour divisionism, his approach of the subject in 'Route de Nieuport' is much closer to Seurat's principles. Whereas in the first of these paintings the subject is the focus, one can see that in the latter the painter tries to give a structure to the composition through the electric poles and their shadows, the road perspective and the shadow of a house in the right corner of the picture. In a way it is his first attempt to create a timeless painting, a goal he fully realised in 1890 with 'Verger à la Louvière' and 'Estacade à Heist'.
We kindly thank Danielle Derrey-Capon, currently working on the Catalogue Raisonné on the artist's work, for her help in cataloguing this lot.
See colour illustration