Falaises

When Gustave Loiseau began painting Falaises in 1904, he sat upon the self-same coastline as Monet had done in the 1880s, observing the coastline of Brittany and Normandy, appreciating the great majesty and power of nature and the end of the European continent, where the land meets the sea. Loiseau was clearly struck by the power of this scene, which would provide sustenance for some of his greatest paintings of the early 1900s, many of which remain among the finest of his career. Loiseau’s interpretation of the cliffs of Northern France is charged with scintillatingly bright colour, tightly dappled brushstrokes in contrasting hues that vibrate off one another, creating a glittering sense of movement. Harnessing his subject on a grand scale and from an elevated viewpoint, Loiseau employs vertical brushstrokes in the cliff-faces to provide a vertiginous and grand quality to their sublime presence, contrasted with the gentle curvilinear horizontals of the water as they ripple, dappled in blues and greens, creating a dazzling sense of perspective and rhythmic contrast within his brushwork. Standing in front of Loiseau’s scene, one becomes immersed, almost able to hear the sound of the waves and feel the soft breeze of the wind.

Loiseau’s greatest work had been enabled by his partnership at age 32 with the legendary art dealer and promoter of Impressionism, Paul Durand-Ruel. Impressed by his talent, Durand-Ruel had offered Loiseau a contract in 1897 that the artist promptly signed, whereupon the dealer engaged himself in buying most of the works Loiseau produced. This offered Loiseau a level of financial security that allowed him the opportunity to travel and work throughout France, favouring Brittany and Normandy. Invigorated by his newfound success cemented by his first solo exhibition at Durand-Ruel’s in the spring of 1898, the young artist travelled all around France, visiting his most beloved regions including Northern Brittany and Saint-Cyr-du-Vaudreuil, where he would produce some of his most majestic works. Loiseau’s abiding passion for painting en plein air and for the exploration of the interplay of light and colour remained at the centre of his painterly investigations throughout his career, particularly in his majestic depictions of Cap Fréhel and the Côte d'Émeraude that would follow, inspired by the wonders of nature.

The quality of painting in Falaises, this monumental testament to the beauty of nature, can be no more evident than witnessed in its significant provenance. The work remained in the artist’s possession until his death in 1936, a year after which, Durand-Ruel acquired the work, whereupon it would remained in the possession of the Durand-Ruel family for over eighty years before passing to the present prestigious French collection. Its undisputable quality and remarkable history make it one of the finest and most exquisite works by the artist.