International studio (60.1916/1917)

Henri Harpignies: In Memoriam


Allier, with its shallow
waters flowing over a sandy
bed and between scattered
rocks, and bordered with
magnificent trees, appears
again and again in his
pictures. The picturesque
ruined chateau of Heris-
son, perched high above
the sandy banks and weedy
islands of the river and
surmounting a cluster of
antique houses, formed
the subject of his 1872
Salon picture. The Saut du
Loup, some three miles
from the village, has been
immortalized more than

■“THE OLD PROMENADE, nice” OIL PAINTING BY HENRI HARPIGNIES
CZoubalof Collection, Petit- Palais, Paris)

called Le Soir: Souvenir de la Campagne de Rome,
which was bought for the Luxembourg. He had
by that time entered well on what may be called
his second period, when connoisseurs began to
remark that a new and great artist, with a distinct
note of his own, was among them. A number of
fine examples of this period in the life of Harpignies
are to be seen in the Petit-Palais, in Paris, thanks
to the generosity of M.
Jacques Zoubalof.
Henceforth, Harpignies
proceeded from triumph
to triumph. His famous
picture Le Saut du Loup :
vue prise sur P Allier was
exhibited at the Universal
Exhibition of 1878, side
by side with an equally
beautiful work Les Chenes
du Chateau-Renard, and
marked a fresh departure.
The Department of the
Allier, forming part of
Auvergne, was destined
to play an important part
in Harpignies’ work. He
went there by chance for
a six weeks’ visit and was
so enchanted with the
beauties he found that he
stayed eighteen months
and continued to visit it
year after year. The

once by his brush. Other
noteworthy works pro-
duced in and around
the sleepy village of Herisson, which, with its
exquisitely proportioned church, lies half-buried
in fine trees on the banks of the Allier, are Lisiere
de bois sur les bords de P Allier, Un beau temps stir
les bords de PAllier, 1861 ; Vue prise dans PAllier,
a water-colour painted in November 1870; Les
bords de PAumance and La Vallee de P Aumance,
1874 and 1875 ; Souvenir dlAuvergne, 1875 ;


“THE VILLAGE SQUARE, H^RISSON ” OIL PAINTING BY HENRI HARPIGNIES
( Petit-Palais, Paris)

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