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Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2010
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Dear Friends,
We are very pleased to present this rare and exceptional work by Norbert Goenuette for your consideration.
While classified as a Realist, Goeneutte shared an artistic interest in themes of Parisian life with his Impressionist friends Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir. Though he never
exhibited with the Impressionists, preferring the Paris Salon, his lively brushwork
and plein-aire sensibilities clearly link him to their circle.
Aside from Paris, Normandy became a favored locale for many of his best works. Sur La Falaise, Treport (On the Cliff, Treport) must be counted as one of his finest paintings set in Normandy to come on the market in many years.
At the end of his life, Goeneutte settled in Auvers sur Oise and became a close friend of Doctor Gachet, the early collector and personal physician to Van Gogh during his final hours. Goeneutte's portrait of Gachet hangs in the Musee D'Orsay, Paris. Professor Gabriel Weisberg, in his book The Realist Tradition, points out that the majority of Goeneutte's
works are now lost or retained by family members. We take great
pleasure in sharing this recently discovered work with you.
~ Price Available on Request ~
Sincerely,
Joyce and Kevin Anderson
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NORBERT GOENEUTTE
French, 1854-1894
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click to view painting framed
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Sur La Falaise, Le Treport (On the cliff, Treport)
Oil on canvas
21 3/4 x 18 1/4 inches (28 x 25 inches framed)
Signed and dated lower left: Norbert Goeneutte, 1886
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Provenance
Private collection, Paris
Drouot, Paris, May 27th, 1959
Private collection, New Jersey
Exhibited
Galerie Charpentier, Paris: Peintres de
1900, Tableaux de Genre, 1953.
Reference - Pictured Right
An accomplished printmaker,
Goeneutte executed an etching
of the same same subject and
title in 1890.
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 Norbert Goeneutte's Sur la Falaise, Le Treport is inspired by the Treport shoreline in France. In the scene, a modern Parisian woman scans the blue horizon from atop a low brick wall. An umbrella and a newspaper, accessories for a day of outdoor leisure are at her feet along with her companion, a miniature pinscher, who admires his mistress from the grass.It is probable that the woman featured in this painting was famed artist model, Victorine Meurent, who was the inspiration for such important paintings as Manet's Olympia and Luncheon on the grass. Meurent posed for Goeneutte during the 1880s and 1890s. Known for her shapely profile and auburn hair, Meurent was perhaps the most known model of her time. Masterfully painted, Sur la Falaise is at once a vibrant and crisp oceanside scene. Goeneutte's colorful details in the foreground include tiny flowers, defined blades of grass, and the beautifully rendered newspaper, umbrella and dog. The primary figure of the painting starkly contrasts the soft shoreline of the scene and the lightness of her complexion. Goeneutte's use of heavy black tones in her dress and hat for this contrast is unique, considering many of his softer paintings. Perhaps he was inspired by the daring tonal authority with which his friend, Manet, painted Victorine Meurent in his most prominent paintings.A painter, pastellist, and engraver of portraits, genre scenes and landscapes, Goeneutte is perhaps best known capturing Parisian scenes of daily life, specializing in his portrayals ofwomen of the city. Goeneutte's kinesthetic style, likened to that of Jean-Francois Rafaelli, captures the activity of Paris streets and people with Impressionistic textures, all the while maintaining nearly photographic compositional integrity and remarkable aesthetic tranquility. Goeneutte thought his unique painterly approach best fit for Salon exhibitions. Every year from 1876 he exhibited several works in the Paris Salon, such as the present piece which was likely painted in 1890.In 1871, after briefly working as a lawyer's clerk, Norbert Goeneutte entered the studio of Isidore Pils at the École des Beaux-Arts. When Pils died in 1875, Henri Lehmann took over the studio and Goeneutte left, moving to Montmartre. There he met Auguste Renoir, for whom he often modeled, and Marcellin Desboutin, who inspired his interest in engraving, etching and drypoint. Although Goeneutte's work was influenced by Manet, Degas, and Renoir, close friends of the artist, he never exhibited with the Impressionist group. Goeneutte preferred the official Salons, for which he regularly organized painter and engraver exhibitions. Goeneutte travelled throughout Europe, painting in various locales including London, in 1880, Rotterdam, in 1887, and Venice, in 1890. He died October 9th, 1894, in Auvers-sur-Oise.
Museum Collections Include:
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Tate Gallery, London; National Gallery, London; Cleveland Museum of Art; Musee d'Arte Moderne, Paris; Pontoise Museum, France; Liege, Paris. |
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