Article: French Impressionist Landscape Painting Beyond the Famous Names

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French Impressionist Landscape Painting Beyond the Famous Names

On 15 April 1874, thirty painters opened an exhibition on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. Monet was one of them, and so was Adolphe-Félix Cals.

It ran for a month, in the former studios of the photographer Nadar.

Sheaves in a stubble field running back to two poplars, signed Cals, in a gilt frame

The stubble Cones of grain in a row, toward two poplars. Haystacks in a Stubble Field, Adolphe-Félix Cals

Five stooks of cut wheat in a stubble field under a clouded summer sky, signed Bonfils

The harvest Five stooks under a clouded summer sky. Haystacks in a Harvest Field, Gaston Bonfils

Sunset over a rocky coast, violet cliffs against a yellow sky, oil on cardboard in a carved gilt frame

The cliff Violet and yellow worked wet into wet. Sunset over the Esterel Coast, 1900s

Fishing boats moored in a harbor, masts in dark strokes over green water, in a gilt frame

The harbor Masts drawn in dark strokes over the hulls. Fishing Boats in a Harbor, French School, 1900s

French Impressionist landscape is open-air landscape painted in separate touches of unmixed colour. It was first shown as a group in Paris in 1874.

Impressionist Landscape Painters Beyond the Famous Names

Thirty painters showed in 1874. Four of the less familiar names, in the order they joined.

1874Adolphe-Félix Cals 1810-1880In the first exhibition, at Monet's invitation, and with the group afterwards. He died at Honfleur in 1880.

1874Stanislas Lépine 1835-1892In the first exhibition. The Seine and the Paris quays, in small, quiet canvases.

1874Armand Guillaumin 1841-1927Six of the eight group exhibitions, the last in 1886. A lottery win in 1891 let him leave his job and paint full time.

1879Albert Lebourg 1849-1928Thirty works at the fourth exhibition, twenty at the fifth in 1880. The Seine at Rouen and the Normandy valleys.

How to Read an Impressionist Landscape

Look into the shadows before you look at the subject.

Haystacks in a Harvest Field, Gaston Bonfils, oil on panel

Two stooks built in vertical strokes of straw and pink, their shadows laid in blue and violet against a dark treeline

Detail of two stooks.The shadowColourShadows laid in blue and violetStooks built in upright strokes of straw and pink

The sky worked in circling grey and white strokes above a treeline dotted with points of light

Detail of the sky.The skyMovementCircling strokes of grey and whitePoints of light between the leaves

In a Barbizon field the same shadow would be umber.

Buying an Impressionist Landscape Painting

Is the painter on record? Lifetime exhibitions, signed and dated work, a public collection that holds him. A recorded painter is a different object from an unsigned canvas in the manner.

What is on the reverse? A colourman's or framer's stamp places the canvas in the supply network professional painters used. Its absence proves nothing.

The dates, address and list of exhibitors of 1874 follow the French Ministry of Culture, 1874, première exposition.

Impressionist and Impressionist-style works for sale

Signed Adolphe-Félix Cals landscape of sheaves in a stubble field, oil on canvas, 19th century French school, in a gilt frame with flower corners

Adolphe Félix CalsHaystacks in a Stubble Field $8,900See the painting

Five stooks of cut wheat in a stubble field under a clouded summer sky, a dark treeline behind, in a carved gilt and black frame (Gaston Bonfils)

Gaston BonfilsSheaves in a Harvest Field $2,400See the painting

Sunset over the rocky Esterel coast, French Impressionist oil on cardboard, early 20th century, in a carved gilt frame

Herve Le Loup de SainvilleEsterel Coast at Sunset, 1900s $3,400See the painting

French oil on canvas of fishing boats moored in a harbour, in a gilt frame with carved corner ornaments

Fishing Boats in a Harbor $1,900See the painting

For sale

Impressionist Style Paintings7 paintingsBrowse the collection

Keep reading More in The Landscape TraditionAnimated Landscapes, Figures in 19th-Century French Painting Related guideHaystacks in French Painting, Before and After Monet Related guideFrench Impressionist Portraits Beyond the Famous Names Every guide, by subject

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Photographs and descriptions of the paintings in our collection by GalerieClub Fine Art.