Lot 303 Dα

Between 1917 and 1926, van Rysselberghe created a series of 17 works to decorate the Chateau du Pachy near to the Belgian town of Mariemont. This small palace was designed by Théo's brother, the architect Octave van Rysselberghe. Our piece is probably a study for the large format painting “La Pergola” (cf. Feltkamp P-025). According to Ronald Feltkamp, this work was commissioned by the influential industrialist and politician Léon Guinotte (1879-1950), and a portrait also exists showing three daughters of the Guinotte family's nine children. Léon Guinotte owned several coal mines in Mariemont and the surrounding area.
At that time, the artist's source of inspiration was the private park "Mortola" on the French-Italian border. Van Rysselberghe lived not far from this park in the southern French town of Le Clair. Following the move here, his style developed from pure pointillism to a more moderate impressionism combining broad brushstrokes in varying directions with the small dots typical of neo-impressionism. Van Rysselberghe had a penchant for charming combinations of various shades of green and purple, which in this work are broken up by small dashes of vibrant red and bright orange. The artist has also deliberately left some patches window-like white, in order to let the painted scene appear flooded with light. Nature is depicted in such verdant opulence that one almost wonders whether the artist has depicted reality or an idealised image, providing it with an almost abstract character.