Jackson Pollock once boasted, “I am Nature” when asked how his painting referred to nature. Pollock instinctively understood an aspect of the genre of nature painting that is overlooked today. Museum galleries currently market the easel paintings associated with Barbizon as poetic views of the countryside in its most profound yet transitory moments. The artists of Barbizon, from the 1820’s through the 1850’s, whose easily merchandisable canvasses floated freely in and out of 19th Century living rooms, viewed the nature they painted as a double-sided phenomenon, combining subjectivity and subject. This paradigm shift in artistic perspective in conjunction with several other naturally occurring evolutions in science and society, signaled a new era.The standardization of pigments and the invention of oil paint in tubes was a major step that enabled the Barbizon Artists to leave their studios and roam the Forests of Fontainbleau, painting the dreams and desires of their audience. By 1868 the Barbizon Movement had grown to 40,000 professional artists. Through their new combinations of color, Barbizon artists were depicting their vision of the world and expressing a moral and revolutionary intent which proposed to change the nature of things and already inspired the soul of their contemporaries. Although only one of a series of events marking the great changes of the nineteenth century, the beginnings of a modern age had taken hold in virtually every aspect of Society.Compiled, excerpted and edited from Painting of Nature by Michael Zimmerman and Barbizon, The Origins of Impressionism by Andre Parinaud.The Song of the LarRome 1958
Breton, Jules, 1827-1905 The Song of the Lark / La Chant de l’alouette, 1884
A Special Note:
The painting currently in the exhibit Journey to Impressionism, “The Song of the Lark” by Jules Breton was recently re-discovered by Michael Schwartz of Galerie Michael. This painting, one of Jules Breton’s most important masterpieces, is a seminal version of the painting by the same title that is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is truly a rare and special find.
“This barefoot young harvester, on her way to work in the fields as the sun rises, has just stopped to look up and listen to the song of the lark. The moment is a crystallization, the awakening of a country girl to aesthetic beauty”.
Hollister Sturges,author of Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition.
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COLLECTING BARBIZON
By Richard Rice
Galerie Michael Staff MemberThe Barbizon Schoolis noted here at Galerie Michael as the calling card internationally for our oil painting collection. We have foreseen the market as having been overlooked by collectors for many decades and have taken it to be a sign for astute buying. Since the late 1980s we have seen many museums and collectors dusting off Barbizon paintings presenting them as their new discoveries. Galerie Michael also began to exhibit Barbizon works in the mid to late 80’s.Many of the Impressionist artists studied the work of Barbizon before establishing their own identities. The dealers of the day as well started with Barbizon school artists and then switched to the Impressionists. Today we have gone the reverse. Out of necessity, however, with good reason. Impressionist paintings by Renoir, Degas, Monet and Van Gogh have gone into the tens of millions of dollars. The Barbizon painters which were first emulated now hang next to them in museums and many are paintings that they themselves often collected.Presently, Barbizon works are highly collectable at reasonable prices in today’s art market. They are equally as appealing and collectable for the aesthetically minded collector.
NEW ADDITIONS AT GALERIE MICHAEL
Henry Darst—Curatorial Alex Mertens—Sales Kassie Nigh —Front Desk Reception Lou Pupich—Photography Kameron Sutton—Office Manager/Exec. Asst. Travis Winn—Design, Web, & Photography
CONSUL GENERAL OF FRANCE HONORS GALERIE MICHAEL & PHILIPPE CEZANNE
The Consul General of France will host a dinner at the French Residence in honor of the opening of the Galerie Michael Exhibit: Barbizon, Journey to Impressionism. The guests of honor will include Philippe Cezanne and Michael Schwartz.
GALERIE MICHAEL NEWSLETTER
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BARBIZON EXHIBITION
Journey to Impressionism Exhibition: November 7th through the 27th
With Special Guest Philippe Cezanne
About the Exhibition by Philippe CezanneOnce again, Galerie Michael, under the direction of Michael Schwartz, presents us with an impressive selection of 19th century European art, mostly from the Barbizon School. As usual, upon closing last year’s Barbizon exhibition, Michael began his search throughout the world’s private collections to find paintings worthy to be offered to the most discerning connoisseurs. I do hope that you find as much enjoyment as I did to walk around Galerie Michael, surrounded by the Barbizon atmosphere. Galerie Michael Director Julie Jackson Ukra
with Philippe Cezanne
A SCHOLARLY NOTE
By Alexandra Murphy
During the 1840s a handful of artists — Theodore Rousseau, Narcisse Diaz, Jean-François Millet, Jules Dupré, Charles Jacque among them — established homes or summer studios along a dusty, meandering street that defined the village of Barbizon. A hamlet so insignificant in the French social order that it could claim neither a post office nor a church of its own, Barbizon would become (by the end of the nineteenth-century), an international tourist destination as well as the identifying term for a broad stream of landscape and figure painting that stretched across three generations of French artists. Originally, artists were drawn to Barbizon by its superb location between the endless wheat fields of the Chailly plain and the dense woodlands of the Forest of Fontainebleau, and by its very inexpensive life style. But by the early 1850s, artists were already coming because of other artists and the art created there, although collectors and dealers were still few and far between.Alexandra Murphyis an independent art historian and author as well as a former curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Excerpted from Galerie Michael Barbizon Catalogue)
WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING
Alexandra Murphy, former curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, author and art historian
“It should surprise no one that for more than fifty years, Barbizon would echo in the background of every artistic movement from Impressionism to Abstraction, from Monet to Mondrian.”
Dr. Philip Conisbee is senior curator of European paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
“I think there will be a great deal more interest in Pre-Impressionist paintings, particularly in the market place, now that the Impressionist paintings have become so expensive.”
ART MARKET COMPARISON
Comparing the art market prices of Leon Augustin Lhermitte and Pierre Auguste Renoir from 1895 to 1900, it was possible to purchase a first quality painting by either artist for 5 – 10,000 French Francs. When you compare current art market prices, 1998 – 2003, there is a vast difference. A first quality painting by Renoir would easily fall into the 15 – 25 million dollar range whereas a first quality Lhermitte can be purchased for 200 – 300,000 dollars. It is obvious that some of world’s most important art dealers and museums are quietly acquiring Barbizon School paintings for their core collections.
HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
HOLIDAY GIFT COLLECTION November 28th The complete exhibition can be viewed on our website: www.galeriemichael.com
HOLIDAY SALE December 10th through December 31st, 2003
2004 Exhibition Schedule To Be Announced
CONTACTING GALERIE MICHAEL SALES STAFF
You can reach the sales staff of Galerie Michael by calling (310) 273-3377 or e-mailing directly to:
