Victor Vignon (1847-1909) Paris in 1880

Paris, la Seine, le Trocadéro et le pont de Grenelle, 1880

Oil on canvas, signed lower left
Dimensions: H. 37,5 cm x W. 65,5 cm (with frame: H. 53 x W. 82 cm)

Provenance:
London Stoppenbach & Delestre Gallery
Private collection in Paris

Born in 1847, Victor Vignon was a pupil of France's greatest naturalist, Camille Corot. Like his master, he was a plein-air painter. A landscape painter still little known to the general public, Victor Vignon was nevertheless a full-fledged member of the Impressionist movement, of which he can be considered one of the heralds. As early as 1870, he was painting verdant landscapes of the Ile-de-France region. Along with Paul Cézanne, Armand Guillaumin, Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissaro, Vignon worked at Auvers-sur-Oise from 1874 to 1876. He took part in the last four Impressionist exhibitions and received a great deal of support, notably from Auguste Renoir, who recommended him to Durand-Ruel, and from Théo Van Gogh, who bought his painting "Jeune fille dans les vignes" in 1883. Unfortunately, Vignon's not very extroverted personality and simple, rustic character did not earn him the critical acclaim he deserved. He retired to the countryside to paint smaller, more restrained works than his friends.

Victor Vignon's painting is made up of an abundance of small, amalgamated touches. His tight, colorful style is a link between the naturalists of the Barbizon School and the Impressionists. The Louvre and Reims museums have acquired several of his works, which rank among the finest paintings of this movement.

Our painting is a work created by Victor Vignon when he was only 33 years old. The subject, Paris and the Seine in 1880, clearly gives this work an important place in his output. As he loved to do, Vignon paints a heavy sky here; the light that penetrates the cloud cover in places is admirably handled. The pictorial material is thick, the brushstrokes impressionistic, particularly with the treatment of the moving water in the wake of the boats. The composition appears classical, but upon closer inspection, the choice of viewpoint allows for a very interesting perspective.
Condition: Excellent, original canvas

Museums where works by Victor Vignon can be found:
Musée de l'Impressionnisme in Paris, Musée d'Orsay, Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne, Musée des beaux-arts in Reims, Musée Faure in Aix-les-Bains, Baltimore Museum of Art, Musée d'art moderne André Malraux in Le Havre, ...