Today we
continue our weeklong look at the life and art of Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844 – 1925), commemorating the 170th
anniversary of his birth.
Though a
celebrated painter, Lhermitte was more importantly one of the great draughtsmen
of the era, who created work in charcoal and pastel of deep and profound
beauty. His pastels contributed to the
increased use of the medium in the latter half of the 19th Century,
and his work influenced the Impressionists.
Lhermitte
began using pastels in 1885, just one year before he exhibited for the first
time at the Société des Pastellistes
Français. He submitted a dozen pastels which depicted
daily life in the areas of Mont-Saint-Père and also his travels to
Vittel, Berneval, Laren, and Wissant. These works and public
exhibitions were an important step in the acceptance of the
pastel. He became a mentor to a group of young pastellistes; and he
grew to love the medium so, that he would almost abandon charcoal
drawing.
Lhermitte
became famous in England after traveling there in 1869, and again
after the Commune of 1871. He hit his stride when celebrated art
dealer Durand-Ruel bought several of
his charcoal drawings and invited him to participate in his “Black and White” exhibition. This resulted in a great critical success for
Lhermitte and a large British client-base.
As his
fame with charcoal and pastels grew, he was contacted by another international
dealer, Wallis, who had galleries in Great Britain, Canada, and
the United States. As scholar Monique Le Pelley Fontenay writes, During his lifetime Lhermitte was very
highly regarded in Anglo-Saxon countries where the picturesque and the healthy
values celebrated in his painting and pastels were particularly
appreciated. Values of work and family appear frequently in his
work. Like Jules Breton and Rosa Bonheur, Lhermitte was appreciated
because he represented the “good old days” … Throughout his life Lhermitte
pointedly ignored the Industrial Revolution, fixing instead on the image of
society before its disappearance, the vision of a paradise lost for the
citizens of big cities, of a time frozen outside the march of
history.
Since we
here at The Jade Sphinx have made a
life out of pointedly trying to ignore the modern world, we understand
Lhermitte’s mission. In today’s picture,
The Washers Along the Marne, we have
a deceptively simple composition. Notice
how Lhermitte’s placement of the figures triangulates our gaze from the three
figures to the landscape background and back again. Reading left-to-right, our eye is caught in a
loop as it goes from left-most figure to right-most figure, the Marne, and back
again.
Look,
too, as his mastery of body language. Though
simple country women, they bear their labors with a stoic dignity; in fact, you
can almost feel the continual and routine toil on their shoulders.
And Lhermitte
uses his pastel to such economic effect.
We are never bombarded with information, but what he provides us speaks
volumes. The two faces that we can see
clearly are not delineated with academic precision, but the lines are
suggestive of deep emotion. Is the
seated woman leaning back with a look of fatigue? Regret?
Or merely making a point? And the
standing figure – is that realization or surrender? We cannot be sure, but the emotional quotient
remains high because the figures are completely human and engaged with
one-another.
Equally eloquent
is the figure with her back to us; keeping her head down, and almost sheepishly
reaching for the next piece of washing, she clearly does not wish to be part of
the exchange between the other two. Or, equally
likely, she is listening where she is not wanted.
I admire
this picture greatly. There is so much
information and so much economy of style and execution. There is a sense of dusk, almost an
end-of-day (or end-or-era) feel to the picture, that one might be tempted to
call it homespun melancholy. With his
muted colors and grave faces, Lhermitte depicts loss by simply illustrating a
passing moment.
More Lhermette tomorrow!
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