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Lot Essay
We thank Olivier Bertrand for providing additional information on this painting which will be included in his Théo van Rysselberghe catalogue raisonné.
Conceived during an extended sojourn on the Northern coast of France, Champ de course à Boulogne-sur-Mer combines the incredible precision of Théo van Rysselberghe’s Pointillist technique with the energy and excitement of the horse race, capturing the majestic animals as they thunder through the vibrant, undulating landscape of the course at Boulogne-sur-Mer. Like many harbours along the Normandy coast, Boulogne-sur-Mer had undergone something of a transformation during the Nineteenth Century, developing into a popular bathing resort for wealthy Parisians, following the arrival of a railway link to the capital. It was also one of the main ports for cross-Channel ferry services to England, which resulted in the development of a healthy tourist industry in the town. Van Rysselberghe travelled to the Normandy coast in 1899, basing himself in the small town of Ambleteuse, just 12 kilometres north of the harbour at Boulogne-sur-Mer. It is most likely that Van Rysselberghe travelled to the hustle and bustle of the larger port town specially to see the races, which were a popular social sporting event at the turn of the century. Positioning himself mid-way through the course, rather than near the finish line and grandstands, Van Rysselberghe captures a dynamic view of the flight of the horses in the very heat of the race.
The fashion for racing on a fixed track had only entered the French consciousness in the 1830s, when the influence of British investors active in Le Havre, Rouen and Paris sparked a series of innovations in the social life of the upper classes. A number of prestigious clubs dedicated to the sport soon sprang up around France, with l’Union and Le Jockey Club amongst the most distinguished, while racecourses and general race meetings began to be staged with increasing frequency throughout the country. In Paris, the Longchamp racecourse opened in the Bois de Boulogne to much fanfare in 1857, and it quickly became a magnet for the fashionable echelons of Parisian society, with the racing season drawing crowds of well-to-do spectators who would promenade through the park in the cutting edge fashions of the day. Like most Parisian entertainments of the time, the races were an opportunity for social display and interaction as much as a sporting event, where close attention to the goings-on of the race was not as high a priority as the keen observation of who was in attendance and what they were wearing. Artists such as Manet and Degas returned again and again to the bustle of Longchamp in their paintings, diligently observing the social rituals of the crowds enjoying the spectacle, but also displaying a keen interest in the excitement and drama of the horse race itself. For example, there is a distinct sense of the thrill of the race in Manet’s Les courses de chevaux au bois de Boulogne, which captures a view of the leading protagonists as they dash past the artist, the horses’ legs stretched to their full expanse as they gallop by, fighting to reach the finish line first.
Van Rysselberghe’s rendering of the races at Boulogne-sur-Mer captures the almost carnival atmosphere of the event, the grandstands in the distance bustling with the colourful mass of crowds cheering on their favourite jockeys and horses, while the bright flags marking the finish line flutter in the strong breeze that sweeps through the landscape. Adopting a profile view of the horses as they navigate the steeplechase course, the artist displays a keen interest in the drama of the whole event rather than just the desperate dash in the last moments of the race as the horses reach the final straight. Capturing a snapshot of the lead group as they navigate an obstacle, the horses sailing through the air as they jump the fence, Van Rysselberghe imbues the composition with a sense of the dangers inherent in each fence, the exertion of the horses as they tackle each jump or incline, and the intense thrill of the action.
With its nuanced play of colour and vibrant brushwork, Champ de course à Boulogne-sur-Mer also demonstrates the growing individuality of Van Rysselberghe’s Pointillist technique during this period, as he took a decisive step away from the precise, uniform, round brush-marks advocated by the movement’s founder, Georges Seurat. In this composition, Van Rysselberghe fills the canvas with dots of varying shape and size, introducing a vibrant sense of variety to the surface of the painting. The landscape in the foreground, for example, is filled with small, slightly elongated daubs of pigment, while the horses and rider are formed using longer, thinner strokes of paint that seem to flow with the contours of their bodies. The structures in the distance, meanwhile, are captured using almost rectangular strokes of paint, the forms of the small tents and horseboxes on either side of the central grandstand appearing without any of the densely packed dots that fill the rest of the canvas. Van Rysselberghe’s evolving technique is perhaps most evident in the rich painterly surface of the sky, where small points of blue and white paint sit directly alongside the large, thick strokes used in the massive columns of clouds that tower above the scene. By introducing these varying textures and shapes to the canvas, Van Rysselberghe heightens the dynamic visual effect of the Pointillist technique, lending the composition a new energy and spirit which reflects the excitement of the horse race.
Conceived during an extended sojourn on the Northern coast of France, Champ de course à Boulogne-sur-Mer combines the incredible precision of Théo van Rysselberghe’s Pointillist technique with the energy and excitement of the horse race, capturing the majestic animals as they thunder through the vibrant, undulating landscape of the course at Boulogne-sur-Mer. Like many harbours along the Normandy coast, Boulogne-sur-Mer had undergone something of a transformation during the Nineteenth Century, developing into a popular bathing resort for wealthy Parisians, following the arrival of a railway link to the capital. It was also one of the main ports for cross-Channel ferry services to England, which resulted in the development of a healthy tourist industry in the town. Van Rysselberghe travelled to the Normandy coast in 1899, basing himself in the small town of Ambleteuse, just 12 kilometres north of the harbour at Boulogne-sur-Mer. It is most likely that Van Rysselberghe travelled to the hustle and bustle of the larger port town specially to see the races, which were a popular social sporting event at the turn of the century. Positioning himself mid-way through the course, rather than near the finish line and grandstands, Van Rysselberghe captures a dynamic view of the flight of the horses in the very heat of the race.
The fashion for racing on a fixed track had only entered the French consciousness in the 1830s, when the influence of British investors active in Le Havre, Rouen and Paris sparked a series of innovations in the social life of the upper classes. A number of prestigious clubs dedicated to the sport soon sprang up around France, with l’Union and Le Jockey Club amongst the most distinguished, while racecourses and general race meetings began to be staged with increasing frequency throughout the country. In Paris, the Longchamp racecourse opened in the Bois de Boulogne to much fanfare in 1857, and it quickly became a magnet for the fashionable echelons of Parisian society, with the racing season drawing crowds of well-to-do spectators who would promenade through the park in the cutting edge fashions of the day. Like most Parisian entertainments of the time, the races were an opportunity for social display and interaction as much as a sporting event, where close attention to the goings-on of the race was not as high a priority as the keen observation of who was in attendance and what they were wearing. Artists such as Manet and Degas returned again and again to the bustle of Longchamp in their paintings, diligently observing the social rituals of the crowds enjoying the spectacle, but also displaying a keen interest in the excitement and drama of the horse race itself. For example, there is a distinct sense of the thrill of the race in Manet’s Les courses de chevaux au bois de Boulogne, which captures a view of the leading protagonists as they dash past the artist, the horses’ legs stretched to their full expanse as they gallop by, fighting to reach the finish line first.
Van Rysselberghe’s rendering of the races at Boulogne-sur-Mer captures the almost carnival atmosphere of the event, the grandstands in the distance bustling with the colourful mass of crowds cheering on their favourite jockeys and horses, while the bright flags marking the finish line flutter in the strong breeze that sweeps through the landscape. Adopting a profile view of the horses as they navigate the steeplechase course, the artist displays a keen interest in the drama of the whole event rather than just the desperate dash in the last moments of the race as the horses reach the final straight. Capturing a snapshot of the lead group as they navigate an obstacle, the horses sailing through the air as they jump the fence, Van Rysselberghe imbues the composition with a sense of the dangers inherent in each fence, the exertion of the horses as they tackle each jump or incline, and the intense thrill of the action.
With its nuanced play of colour and vibrant brushwork, Champ de course à Boulogne-sur-Mer also demonstrates the growing individuality of Van Rysselberghe’s Pointillist technique during this period, as he took a decisive step away from the precise, uniform, round brush-marks advocated by the movement’s founder, Georges Seurat. In this composition, Van Rysselberghe fills the canvas with dots of varying shape and size, introducing a vibrant sense of variety to the surface of the painting. The landscape in the foreground, for example, is filled with small, slightly elongated daubs of pigment, while the horses and rider are formed using longer, thinner strokes of paint that seem to flow with the contours of their bodies. The structures in the distance, meanwhile, are captured using almost rectangular strokes of paint, the forms of the small tents and horseboxes on either side of the central grandstand appearing without any of the densely packed dots that fill the rest of the canvas. Van Rysselberghe’s evolving technique is perhaps most evident in the rich painterly surface of the sky, where small points of blue and white paint sit directly alongside the large, thick strokes used in the massive columns of clouds that tower above the scene. By introducing these varying textures and shapes to the canvas, Van Rysselberghe heightens the dynamic visual effect of the Pointillist technique, lending the composition a new energy and spirit which reflects the excitement of the horse race.