.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Illustrating a brilliant day from the edge of France’s sublime Côte d'Emeraude in Brittany, Rocher la Teignouse, Cap Fréhel is a prime example of Gustave Loiseau’s seascapes, in which the artist observes the mid-day sun reflecting off the water en plein air. Loiseau’s art is often described as preeminent among the second wave of artists that emerged after the first Impressionists. Yet, Loiseau’s art cannot be considered solely impressionistic as he verged towards Pointillism: the surfaces of his paintings contain intricate geometric webs of brushstrokes that abstract in close proximity. Nevertheless, essential to his practice were his forays out of the studio in order to capture the landscape as he saw it.
Loiseau visited the Côte d'Emeraude yearly from 1904 to 1909, with the exception of 1907; his favored subjects there were the cliffs at Cap Fréhel. Although years separated his various forays, Loiseau was obsessed with identical vistas in the footsteps of Monet’s famous series; from painting to painting, Loiseau’s landscape appears unchanged even as new cloud shapes form, the sun moves across the sky, and years pass. Monet had never painted Cap Fréhel, so Loiseau’s series stakes claim to this beautiful, undiscovered region. Only in the decade before, Eugène Herpin had given the coast its name, writing, “The hue of the sea, the greenery of the trees reflected in it, all this strange symphony of different greens made me call our coast the Côte d'Emeraude” (quoted in G. Foucqueron, Saint-Malo, 2000 ans d'histoire, Saint-Malo, 1999, p. 793).
Perched on the precipice of the distant cliffs along the horizon of the present seascape sits the medieval Fort la Latte, known as the Castle of the Rock Goyon. Now a famous tourist attraction, the castle was built in the 1300s by the Lord of Matignon, Etienne III Gouÿon, and was active until the early 1800s when its strategic location could no longer protect against military technological advancements. As Loiseau painted, the castle was largely abandoned, falling into ruin under a sole keeper, until it was designated as a monument historique in 1925. From afar, the crumbling walls of the castle appear as one with the rocky crag. In the salty sea spray, the manmade and the organic merge together into a symphonic combination of dazzling light and jewel-like color.
Loiseau visited the Côte d'Emeraude yearly from 1904 to 1909, with the exception of 1907; his favored subjects there were the cliffs at Cap Fréhel. Although years separated his various forays, Loiseau was obsessed with identical vistas in the footsteps of Monet’s famous series; from painting to painting, Loiseau’s landscape appears unchanged even as new cloud shapes form, the sun moves across the sky, and years pass. Monet had never painted Cap Fréhel, so Loiseau’s series stakes claim to this beautiful, undiscovered region. Only in the decade before, Eugène Herpin had given the coast its name, writing, “The hue of the sea, the greenery of the trees reflected in it, all this strange symphony of different greens made me call our coast the Côte d'Emeraude” (quoted in G. Foucqueron, Saint-Malo, 2000 ans d'histoire, Saint-Malo, 1999, p. 793).
Perched on the precipice of the distant cliffs along the horizon of the present seascape sits the medieval Fort la Latte, known as the Castle of the Rock Goyon. Now a famous tourist attraction, the castle was built in the 1300s by the Lord of Matignon, Etienne III Gouÿon, and was active until the early 1800s when its strategic location could no longer protect against military technological advancements. As Loiseau painted, the castle was largely abandoned, falling into ruin under a sole keeper, until it was designated as a monument historique in 1925. From afar, the crumbling walls of the castle appear as one with the rocky crag. In the salty sea spray, the manmade and the organic merge together into a symphonic combination of dazzling light and jewel-like color.