The Haymakers

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Léon Augustin Lhermitte
The Haymakers

About the Item

Léon Augustin Lhermitte French 1844 - 1925 The Haymakers Pastel on Paper, signed, lower left Image size: 9 ½ x 12 ½ inches (24 x 32 cm) Original gilt swept frame Léon Augustin Lhermitte was born in Mont Saint Pere, France. He was a French realist painter whose primary subject matter was rural scenes depicting peasants at work. He was a student of Lecoq de Boisbaudran, and gained recognition after his show in the Paris Salon in 1864. His many awards include the French Legion of Honour in 1844 and the Grand Prize at the World Exhibition in 1889. Lhermitte’s innovative use of pastels won him the admiration of his contemporaries. Van Gogh wrote that "If every month Le Monde Illustre published one of his compositions ... it would be a great pleasure for me to be able to follow it. It is certain that for years I have not seen anything as beautiful as this scene by Lhermitte ... I am too preoccupied by Lhermitte this evening to be able to talk of other things.' Lhermitte was greatly admired by fellow artists, including Auguste Rodin, Vincent van Gogh and Puvis de Chavannes. Lhermitte was invited to participate in the Fourth Exhibition of the Impressionists by Edgar Degas, but refused. The art gallery Boussod, Valadon et Cie., signed a contract with Lhermitte for the exclusive rights to sell his paintings. His associations with dealers and his increasing reliance on charcoal and pastel drawings put him in contact with another international dealer, Wallis, who had galleries in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States, thus disseminating Lhermitte’s vision of rustic life throughout the Western world. Lhermitte rejuvenated traditional themes of academic art by executing them with progressive techniques. Lhermitte took the recognised imagery of the peasant and rural life and reintroduced it by using more contemporary media, such as pastels. For these innovations, Lhermitte was praised and admired by his contemporaries and modern audiences alike, Lhermitte brought the image of rural life and landscape into the twentieth century. In his image of rustic life, Lhermitte focused not only on peasant life in the fields, for which he earned the title, “the singer of wheat,” but also on interior scenes of peasant life at home, infused with the interior detailing and emphasis on light effects in his scenes. He also became a devoted depicter of mother and child, an emotional theme that showed Lhermitte’s sensitivity to the issues of family and relationships. His interest in femininity also extended to peasant women washing their clothes along the river basin, especially along the Marne. In these cases, Lhermitte combined each of his interests to create his compositions. Lhermitte was awarded many notable commissions by the French Government, one in particular was the decoration of the Salle des Commissions in the Sorbonne, and later in his career he went on to execute a monumental market scene for the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. Lhermitte was created officer of the Légion d'Honneur in 1884 and was awarded the Grand Prize at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889 where Lhermitte exhibited seven paintings. In 1905 he became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. After the First World War his health, which had never been very good, deteriorated and made it very difficult for him to continue his work, however Lhermitte continued to execute some pastels depicting scenes of rural life until his death in 1925. Lhermitte’s drawings, pastels and oil paintings are proudly displayed in numerous museums around the world including the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Museo Nacional Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Creator:
Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844-1925, French)
Dimensions:
Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 12.5 in (31.75 cm)
Medium:
Pastel
Movement & Style:
Impressionist
Period:
19th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU5244461592