MAUCLAIR CAMILLE: (1872-1945)
MAUCLAIR CAMILLE: (1872-1945) Séverin Faust. French art critic, poet, novelist, biographer, and travel writer. A good, interesting autograph manuscript signed, Camille Mauclair, four pages (separate leaves), 8vo, n.p. (Paris), n.d. (January 1896), in French. The manuscript is titled Choses d´Art and represents Mauclair´s reviews of several exhibitions, commencing with one at the Théâtre d’Application, ´Hâtive et encombrée de morceaux sans réelle valeur, cette collection inspirait l'intérêt : ces peintres semblaient avoir visé leurs ateliers sans s'y être rencontrés eux-mêmes. M. Vogler montrait quelques esquisses d'une couleur séduisante, mais sommairement traitées et un peu lâches. M. Granié montrait une deux ou trois têtes d'expression mystique, d'un faire délicat, notamment petit portrait de M. Gabriel Fabre. M. Engrand avait un envoi amusant et mouvementé, M. Iker et M. Rosso exposaient des choses d'un sentiment doux sans grande recherche. Très au-dessus des autres intéressaient les paysages de M. Girieu-Marc......Girieu-Marc est assurément un des meilleurs peintres que nous ait révélés depuis sa fondation, l'exposition Le Barc de Boutteville. Il semble être, avec M. Leheutre sans [?] où vit là une si belle femme endormie, et M. Francis Guiguet un réel divinateur de la pénombre, de la grâce mystérieuse des demi-jours, un peintre de race à l'âme charmante´ (Translation: Though hastily assembled and cluttered with pieces of little real value, this collection aroused interest: these painters seemed to have drawn upon their studios without ever having met one another. Mr Vogler exhibited a few sketches in attractive colours, though they were sketchily executed and somewhat loose. Mr Granié exhibited two or three heads of a mystical expression, delicately executed, notably a small portrait of Mr Gabriel Fabre. Mr Engrand had an amusing and lively selection; Mr Iker and Mr Rosso exhibited works of a gentle sentiment without great refinement. Far above the others were the landscapes by Mr Girieu-Marc......Girieu-Marc is undoubtedly one of the finest painters to have emerged from the ‘Le Barc de Boutteville’ exhibition since its inception. Alongside Mr Leheutre—whose work features a beautiful sleeping woman—and Mr Francis Guiguet, a true master of twilight and the mysterious grace of half-light, he appears to be a painter of true calibre with a charming soul´). Mauclair continues with a glowing review of Mary Cassatt´s works at Durand-Ruel´s gallery, ´Chez Durand-Ruel furent apparus pour quelques jours des séries d'eaux-fortes et une cinquantaine de toiles. Nous avons sans doute impressionniste fait déjà trois femmes peintres. Mme Berthe Morisot, Mme Jeanne Jacquemin, et miss Mary Cassatt, car cette dernière, Américaine de naissance, est de la filiation directe de Degas. Mme Jacquemin se plaît à rechercher près de Botticelli, de Gozzoli et de Jean Belin des rapports infinis de lignes et de nuances tendant à une douceur d'une douceur indéfinissable et hallucinante, avec une couleur étrange et voilée. Mme Morisot, au talent fier et aigu, très-moderne, a signé deux ou trois toiles d'une absolue beauté, d'une allure hautaine à la Manet, et une foule de petites esquisses charmantes et vives. Miss Cassatt dessine plus sévèrement, et s'en tient à reproduire en toute son œuvre des motifs de maternité. C'est tout ce qu'elle veut connaître de la vie : elle y trouve de la beauté pure. Elle montrerait ainsi quelques pastels d'enfants d'un dessin parfait et d'une couleur savoureuse, œuvres composées avec le sens classicisme du prestigieux Degas et ses pointes sèches câlines, certaines rehaussées d'aquarelle, en des tirages parfaits à la manière japonaise.......Miss Cassatt est un peintre de race. J'ai entendu des gens se plaindre de la voir occupée uniquement de peindre des marmots, des bonnes, des objets de toilette. Ces gens croyaient apparemment que la beauté, le caractère, ne se portent pas sur tous les objets et toutes les formes, et que le sujet est d'un tableau compte dans le talent. C'étaient d'ailleurs des peintres.......Dans le vestibule, nous avons avisé Degas. Il venait voir quelques œuvres, revoir même celles qui lui appartiennent et qu'il a sous les yeux tous les jours. Il sait bien à quoi s'en tenir sur les sujets nobles, le maître aime l'imagination de miss Cassatt, parce qu'elle peint bien´ (Translation: ´At Durand-Ruel, a series of etchings and some fifty canvases were on display for a few days. We have undoubtedly already mentioned three female Impressionist painters: Madame Berthe Morisot, Madame Jeanne Jacquemin, and Miss Mary Cassatt, for the latter, an American by birth, is a direct descendant of Degas. Madame Jacquemin delights in seeking, in the works of Botticelli, Gozzoli and Jean Belin, the infinite interplay of lines and shades tending towards a softness of an indefinable and mesmerising gentleness, with a strange, veiled colour. Mrs Morisot, with her proud and keen talent, very modern in style, has produced two or three canvases of absolute beauty, with a haughty air à la Manet, and a host of charming and vivid little sketches. Miss Cassatt’s style is more austere, and she confines herself throughout her work to depicting scenes of motherhood. That is all she wishes to know of life: in it she finds pure beauty. She thus exhibits a number of pastels of children, perfectly drawn and rich in colour—works composed with the classical sensibility of the illustrious Degas and his tender drypoint strokes, some enhanced with watercolour, in flawless prints in the Japanese style....... Miss Cassatt is a painter of true calibre. I have heard people complain that she is preoccupied solely with painting little children, maids and toiletries. These people apparently believed that beauty and character do not apply to all objects and forms, and that the subject of a painting counts for something in terms of talent. They were, incidentally, painters themselves....... In the entrance hall, we spotted Degas. He had come to look at a few works, even to revisit those that belong to him and which he sees every day. He knows full well what to make of noble subjects; the master admires Miss Cassatt’s imagination because she paints well´). A particularly interesting piece of contemporary art criticism, distinguished by Mauclair's perceptive and enthusiastic assessment of Cassatt and his first-hand observation of Degas viewing her works, offering a vivid contemporary testament to the close artistic affinity between the two painters. With the official oval purple ink stamp of the Mercure de France to the upper margin of the first page. Some very light, extremely minor age wear, VG
The present manuscript was prepared for publication in the Mercure de France, the influential Parisian literary and artistic review with which Mauclair was closely associated. Under the title Choses d'Art, the article appeared in the journal in January 1896 [tome XVII], its discussion of contemporary exhibitions providing an illuminating record of Mauclair's engagement with the Parisian avant-garde at the end of the nineteenth century.
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) American painter and printmaker who spent most of her adult life in France and became one of the leading figures associated with Impressionism. She first encountered Edgar Degas's work in the 1870s and, after meeting him in 1877, developed a close and enduring friendship with the French artist, who invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1879. Degas profoundly influenced Cassatt's draughtsmanship and experimentation with printmaking, while their relationship was one of considerable mutual artistic respect; each collected works by the other.
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) French painter and printmaker, one of the founding members of the Impressionist movement and, alongside Mary Cassatt, one of its most important female exponents. After exhibiting regularly at the official Paris Salon from 1864, she participated in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 and ultimately appeared in seven of the group's eight exhibitions. Morisot enjoyed a particularly close artistic friendship with Édouard Manet, for whom she frequently modelled and with whom she exerted a reciprocal artistic influence; in 1874 she married his younger brother Eugène. Mauclair's praise is especially poignant in the present manuscript: Morisot had died on 2nd March 1895, aged just fifty-four, less than a year before he wrote these words describing her ´proud and keen talent´ and canvases of ´absolute beauty´.
MAUCLAIR CAMILLE: (1872-1945) Séverin Faust. French art critic, poet, novelist, biographer, and travel writer. A good, interesting autograph manuscript signed, Camille Mauclair, four pages (separate leaves), 8vo, n.p. (Paris), n.d. (January 1896), in French. The manuscript is titled Choses d´Art and represents Mauclair´s reviews of several exhibitions, commencing with one at the Théâtre d’Application, ´Hâtive et encombrée de morceaux sans réelle valeur, cette collection inspirait l'intérêt : ces peintres semblaient avoir visé leurs ateliers sans s'y être rencontrés eux-mêmes. M. Vogler montrait quelques esquisses d'une couleur séduisante, mais sommairement traitées et un peu lâches. M. Granié montrait une deux ou trois têtes d'expression mystique, d'un faire délicat, notamment petit portrait de M. Gabriel Fabre. M. Engrand avait un envoi amusant et mouvementé, M. Iker et M. Rosso exposaient des choses d'un sentiment doux sans grande recherche. Très au-dessus des autres intéressaient les paysages de M. Girieu-Marc......Girieu-Marc est assurément un des meilleurs peintres que nous ait révélés depuis sa fondation, l'exposition Le Barc de Boutteville. Il semble être, avec M. Leheutre sans [?] où vit là une si belle femme endormie, et M. Francis Guiguet un réel divinateur de la pénombre, de la grâce mystérieuse des demi-jours, un peintre de race à l'âme charmante´ (Translation: Though hastily assembled and cluttered with pieces of little real value, this collection aroused interest: these painters seemed to have drawn upon their studios without ever having met one another. Mr Vogler exhibited a few sketches in attractive colours, though they were sketchily executed and somewhat loose. Mr Granié exhibited two or three heads of a mystical expression, delicately executed, notably a small portrait of Mr Gabriel Fabre. Mr Engrand had an amusing and lively selection; Mr Iker and Mr Rosso exhibited works of a gentle sentiment without great refinement. Far above the others were the landscapes by Mr Girieu-Marc......Girieu-Marc is undoubtedly one of the finest painters to have emerged from the ‘Le Barc de Boutteville’ exhibition since its inception. Alongside Mr Leheutre—whose work features a beautiful sleeping woman—and Mr Francis Guiguet, a true master of twilight and the mysterious grace of half-light, he appears to be a painter of true calibre with a charming soul´). Mauclair continues with a glowing review of Mary Cassatt´s works at Durand-Ruel´s gallery, ´Chez Durand-Ruel furent apparus pour quelques jours des séries d'eaux-fortes et une cinquantaine de toiles. Nous avons sans doute impressionniste fait déjà trois femmes peintres. Mme Berthe Morisot, Mme Jeanne Jacquemin, et miss Mary Cassatt, car cette dernière, Américaine de naissance, est de la filiation directe de Degas. Mme Jacquemin se plaît à rechercher près de Botticelli, de Gozzoli et de Jean Belin des rapports infinis de lignes et de nuances tendant à une douceur d'une douceur indéfinissable et hallucinante, avec une couleur étrange et voilée. Mme Morisot, au talent fier et aigu, très-moderne, a signé deux ou trois toiles d'une absolue beauté, d'une allure hautaine à la Manet, et une foule de petites esquisses charmantes et vives. Miss Cassatt dessine plus sévèrement, et s'en tient à reproduire en toute son œuvre des motifs de maternité. C'est tout ce qu'elle veut connaître de la vie : elle y trouve de la beauté pure. Elle montrerait ainsi quelques pastels d'enfants d'un dessin parfait et d'une couleur savoureuse, œuvres composées avec le sens classicisme du prestigieux Degas et ses pointes sèches câlines, certaines rehaussées d'aquarelle, en des tirages parfaits à la manière japonaise.......Miss Cassatt est un peintre de race. J'ai entendu des gens se plaindre de la voir occupée uniquement de peindre des marmots, des bonnes, des objets de toilette. Ces gens croyaient apparemment que la beauté, le caractère, ne se portent pas sur tous les objets et toutes les formes, et que le sujet est d'un tableau compte dans le talent. C'étaient d'ailleurs des peintres.......Dans le vestibule, nous avons avisé Degas. Il venait voir quelques œuvres, revoir même celles qui lui appartiennent et qu'il a sous les yeux tous les jours. Il sait bien à quoi s'en tenir sur les sujets nobles, le maître aime l'imagination de miss Cassatt, parce qu'elle peint bien´ (Translation: ´At Durand-Ruel, a series of etchings and some fifty canvases were on display for a few days. We have undoubtedly already mentioned three female Impressionist painters: Madame Berthe Morisot, Madame Jeanne Jacquemin, and Miss Mary Cassatt, for the latter, an American by birth, is a direct descendant of Degas. Madame Jacquemin delights in seeking, in the works of Botticelli, Gozzoli and Jean Belin, the infinite interplay of lines and shades tending towards a softness of an indefinable and mesmerising gentleness, with a strange, veiled colour. Mrs Morisot, with her proud and keen talent, very modern in style, has produced two or three canvases of absolute beauty, with a haughty air à la Manet, and a host of charming and vivid little sketches. Miss Cassatt’s style is more austere, and she confines herself throughout her work to depicting scenes of motherhood. That is all she wishes to know of life: in it she finds pure beauty. She thus exhibits a number of pastels of children, perfectly drawn and rich in colour—works composed with the classical sensibility of the illustrious Degas and his tender drypoint strokes, some enhanced with watercolour, in flawless prints in the Japanese style....... Miss Cassatt is a painter of true calibre. I have heard people complain that she is preoccupied solely with painting little children, maids and toiletries. These people apparently believed that beauty and character do not apply to all objects and forms, and that the subject of a painting counts for something in terms of talent. They were, incidentally, painters themselves....... In the entrance hall, we spotted Degas. He had come to look at a few works, even to revisit those that belong to him and which he sees every day. He knows full well what to make of noble subjects; the master admires Miss Cassatt’s imagination because she paints well´). A particularly interesting piece of contemporary art criticism, distinguished by Mauclair's perceptive and enthusiastic assessment of Cassatt and his first-hand observation of Degas viewing her works, offering a vivid contemporary testament to the close artistic affinity between the two painters. With the official oval purple ink stamp of the Mercure de France to the upper margin of the first page. Some very light, extremely minor age wear, VG
The present manuscript was prepared for publication in the Mercure de France, the influential Parisian literary and artistic review with which Mauclair was closely associated. Under the title Choses d'Art, the article appeared in the journal in January 1896 [tome XVII], its discussion of contemporary exhibitions providing an illuminating record of Mauclair's engagement with the Parisian avant-garde at the end of the nineteenth century.
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) American painter and printmaker who spent most of her adult life in France and became one of the leading figures associated with Impressionism. She first encountered Edgar Degas's work in the 1870s and, after meeting him in 1877, developed a close and enduring friendship with the French artist, who invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1879. Degas profoundly influenced Cassatt's draughtsmanship and experimentation with printmaking, while their relationship was one of considerable mutual artistic respect; each collected works by the other.
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) French painter and printmaker, one of the founding members of the Impressionist movement and, alongside Mary Cassatt, one of its most important female exponents. After exhibiting regularly at the official Paris Salon from 1864, she participated in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 and ultimately appeared in seven of the group's eight exhibitions. Morisot enjoyed a particularly close artistic friendship with Édouard Manet, for whom she frequently modelled and with whom she exerted a reciprocal artistic influence; in 1874 she married his younger brother Eugène. Mauclair's praise is especially poignant in the present manuscript: Morisot had died on 2nd March 1895, aged just fifty-four, less than a year before he wrote these words describing her ´proud and keen talent´ and canvases of ´absolute beauty´.
