Robert Antoine Pinchon (French, 1886-1943). Bois-Guillaume, chemin sous la neige. Oil on canvas. 21-...

Description

Robert Antoine Pinchon (French, 1886-1943)
Bois-Guillaume, chemin sous la neige
Oil on canvas
21-1/4 x 28-3/4 inches (54.0 x 73.0 cm)
Signed lower right: Robert A. Pinchon

PROVENANCE:
Walter F. Brown (1930-2014), San Antonio, Texas;
Private collection, Dallas, Texas.

EXHIBITED:
(Probably) Galerie Reitlinger, Paris, "Exposition Robert A. Pinchon," February 16-March 4, 1926, no. 35.

On a snowy day on the outskirts of his hometown of Rouen in Normandy, Robert Antoine Pinchon painted Bois-Guillaume, chemin sous la neige, a frosty scene of a path beside a river with the city's skyline in the far distance. The spire of the Gothic cathedral is just visible in the cloudy haze on the left while shaggy vegetation weighed down by the heavy snowfall lines the riverbank and reflects in the water as a riot of aquas, deep blues, peaches, and burnt umbers radiate on the right. The artist's distinctive palette of delicate pinks and blues picks out highlights in the snow, and flickers across the sky. Because the scene is overcast, the time of day is strangely indeterminate: few shadows fall to tell the time. The rosy atmosphere can signal either morning or perhaps late afternoon, and the mood is quiet, almost meditative.

Pinchon was a sensitive, extraordinarily gifted colorist associated with the "Rouen School," a group of painters including Charles Angrand, Joseph Delattre, and Albert Lebourg, among others, who were devoted to painting the Normandy landscape, particularly the urban and rural areas hugging the river Seine, recording it at different seasons, times of day, and under different atmospheric conditions. They painted outside in a direct post-impressionistic manner, eschewing the formalities of the rigid academic way of making numerous preliminary studies and elaborate underpaintings. Indeed, in the present work, Pinchon unflinchingly used the bare canvas itself as the middle tone for the composition. Rather than covering the canvas entirely with paint, he allowed it to show through as a warm brownish tone between and among the various shapes and objects. Pinchon was noted for avoiding contour lines and instead allowing the canvas essentially to become them, differentiating various parts of the design. His paint application was enormously free, spirited, and patchy. He approached the canvas with such directness, touching his loaded brush confidently this way and that to suggest volume, shape, and even perspective, working as he did with larger brushes in the foreground and smaller ones in the distance.

Pinchon grew up in a literary family that encouraged his talent. His father, a librarian, journalist, playwright, and drama critic as well as a good friend of Guy de Maupassant and protégé of Gustave Flaubert, spotted his son's early aptitude. He bought him a box of paints and would accompany him on long Sunday painting walks such that by the age of fourteen, in 1900, Robert had already exhibited some of his first paintings. He received a solid artistic education, first at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen where his classmates included future Dadaist Marcel Duchamp and future Cubist Pierre Dumont, both of whom became lifelong friends. Pinchon then trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Rouen but supplemented its traditional approach with courses at Joseph Delattre's Académie libre, a gathering place for the new generation of independent artists open to the emerging modernist trends.

Artistic recognition came almost immediately for the skilled and precocious Pinchon and continued unabated from 1903 until 1914. When he was 17, Pinchon exhibited in Rouen alongside both Blanche Hoschedé-Monet and Claude Monet, who showed a work from his magnificent La Cathédral de Rouen series. Not only did Monet publicly compliment Pinchon, but an important patron came forward as a result: noted Impressionist collector, François Depeaux, purchased Pinchon's works and took him under his wing. Less than two years later, in the spring of 1905, Pinchon had his first major exhibition of 24 paintings at the Galerie Legrip in Rouen, and the same year his career was launched in Paris at the Salon d'Automne, the same venue that saw the birth of Fauvism. Pinchon soon joined the "group XXX," a collective of artists and writers working in the Rouen area, and included such luminaries as Henri Matisse, André Derain, Raoul Dufy and Maurice Vlaminck. His first solo exhibition in Paris, featuring thirty canvases, was held in March 1909 at the Galerie des Artistes Modernes.

Sadly, World War I interrupted Pinchon's amazing trajectory. He was captured at the Battle of the Somme by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war for nearly two years (1916-1918). Although he managed to escape and return home to Rouen, the brutality of the experience led to difficulty fulfilling his entries for the Salon d'Automne for four consecutive years. He nonetheless found his way back into painting with perhaps even greater poetic feeling and emotional power than anything he had done previously; his return to painting outdoors helped him find his way forward.

In 1923 the artist started signing his name Robert A. Pinchon to distinguish himself from another artist of the same name. By 1926, he had produced enough new work that he was awarded a one-man exhibition at Galerie Reitlinger in Paris. Bois-Guillaume, chemin sous la neige is signed "Robert A. Pinchon" and therefore dates from the post-1923 period; it was likely exhibited as number 35 in the Reitlinger exhibition.

Today, Pinchon is recognized as an important figure in the history of French modernism, and his work is held in numerous collections including the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, and the National Gallery of Australia.


Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000.

*Heritage Auctions strives to provide as much information as possible but encourages in-person inspection by bidders. Statements regarding the condition of objects are only for general guidance and should not be relied upon as complete statements of fact, and do not constitute a representation, warranty or assumption of liability by Heritage. Some condition issues may not be noted in the condition report but are apparent in the provided photos which are considered part of the condition report. Please note that we do not de-frame lots estimated at $1,000 or less and may not be able to provide additional details for lots valued under $500. Heritage does not guarantee the condition of frames and shall not be liable for any damage/scratches to frames, glass/acrylic coverings, original boxes, display accessories, or art that has slipped in frames. All lots are sold "AS IS" under the Terms & Conditions of Auction.