Lot 305 Dα

After a varied education not just as an artist, Guillaumin became one of the pioneers of a theory of painting championed by Eduard Manet, was introduced by Paul Cézanne to the circle around the writer and collector Émile Zola and frequented the studio of Frédéric Bazille - a salon and well-known meeting place. Together with Camille Pissarro and Cézanne, Guillaumin painted landscapes including that near Pontoise, and he grew into a remarkable figure among the Impressionists seeking to develop a feeling for the genuine form of nature. From then on his style of painting and his brushstroke were based on Cézanne's technique, which enabled him to succeed in investing his landscapes with a subtle structure in their composition and tonality.
Guillaumin also remains true to his system in this turn-of-the-century painting filled with autumnal light. Stylistically, he turns slightly towards neo-impressionism, sometimes employing its palette unbound by nature. In doing so, Guillaumin does not unconditionally adhere to the pedantic theory of Paul Signac, instead, he certainly adapts his brushstroke to the features of the landscape, as can be observed wonderfully in the case of "Paysage à Crozant". It is these subtle nuances in the colours placed side by side which the artist uses to describe the trees in the foreground, with their autumnal leaves, and to trace Creuse river, which cuts deeply into the landscape. In a wide bend it washes around the massive rock crowned by the castle ruins of Crozant, a richly historical “point de vue”.
The "Paysage à Crozant" is a classical landscape by an already mature painter; however, with his palette he is nonetheless able to keep his eyes open to the direction being pursued by the still very young Fauves.