Louis Marie de Schryver (French, 1862-1942). Flower Seller, Rainy Day, 1888. Oil on canvas. 41 x 62 inches (104.1 x 157....

Description

Louis Marie de Schryver (French, 1862-1942)
Flower Seller, Rainy Day, 1888
Oil on canvas
41 x 62 inches (104.1 x 157.5 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: de Schryver / 1888

Property from the Merryl Israel Aron Family Trust

PROVENANCE:
Christie's, New York, May 27, 1992, lot 61 (as Summer flowers);
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Louis Marie de Schryver began his career earlier than most, making his debut at the Salon in 1876 at the astonishingly young age of 13, exhibiting two floral still lifes. He continued working in the genre for several more years, winning a bronze medal at the 1879 World's Fair in Sydney with Lilas (Lilacs), before taking on larger, more ambitious compositions, but his early gift for still life was never abandoned; flowers appear throughout his body of work.

Indeed, the most vibrant and eye-catching passages in the present work are the stall itself and its multicolored contents. Especially adept with color, de Schryver contrasts the luminous flora with the earthy background. With brisk, confident strokes, texturized though a dry-brush technique, he brings forth a most unique tonal experience, that dim, warm light produced by the sun desperately trying to break through the clouds following an afternoon rainstorm. The puddles still visible on the sidewalk indicate that the rain has only just recently ended; the viewer can almost smell the wet pavement and feel the warm, humid air.

Executed at the height of his development as a painter, Flower Seller, Rainy Day, epitomizes the elements so central to his work at this time, specifically the bountiful florals and the capture of an otherwise innocuous moment in an afternoon of the women of Paris.

And what women they are! Joined by many artists of the period, by the mid-1880s, de Schryver turned his attention to daily life in Paris, focusing on fashionable society, and on elegant, stylish women most of all. Among the many changes to French culture during "La Belle Époque," was the increased visibility of women outside the home. As Paris continued to be modernized under Haussmann's plans, so, too, were its inhabitants. Enjoying freedoms that were unavailable to them even a generation before, young women took to the boulevards, selling flowers, staffing the boutiques and cafés of fashionable areas, and strolling the avenues unaccompanied to show off their finery.

Providing us with women of both the working and leisure classes, the present work is thick with detail. The flower seller, hands pressed into the pockets of her soiled apron, appears to tell the ladies about her wares, as the refined, black-clad woman listens intently, purse in hand. Especially detailed is the figure in white, her matching gold jewelry shining even in the post-deluge dusk. Gripping her purchase in one hand, she gazes intently at the remaining arrangements with a discerning eye, wanting to be absolutely certain in her choice, that she did not overlook a single bloom. Her sleek, black standard Poodle scans the stall as well with a keen, attentive poise echoing that of his mistress.

These fleeting moments captured in such remarkable, lavish detail granted de Schryver significant popularity and critical acclaim during his lifetime. His technical skill and compositional spontaneity position him firmly at the pinnacle of Belle Époque artists.


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