DOI Heft:
No. 195 (June, 1909)
DOI Artikel:Henriet, Frédéric: Léon Lhermitte, painter of french peasant life
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20967#0030
Lton Lhermitte
he executed his first plate, etched under the eye
of Legros, who helped him and superintended the
biting. The subject was a Renaissance cuirasse
damascened with foliage, destined for the work
which Ed. Sievre was editing. The latter was so
pleased with the result that he at once entrusted
Lhermitte with the making of a series of plates,
twelve in number. The “Etcher’s Portfolio”
appealed to his talent, and Arthur Tooth, who had
been one of the first to presage the success of the
young artist, commissioned from him two excellent
landscapes, E Eglise St. Maclou and La Cathedra1 e
de Rouen. The limited space at my disposal com-
pels me to refer the reader to the work in which I
have described and catalogued the forty-four plates
which constitute the etched work of Lhermitte
(“Les eaux-fortes de Leon Lhermitte,” published
by Alphonse Lemerre, Paris, 1905).
When in 1886, a society of Pastellists was started,
modelled on the Society of Water-colour Painters,
Lhermitte became a
member, and from its
foundation took a promi-
nent place. It hardly
seemed as though he had
changed his metier, so
much at home did he
find himself at once in
the new medium, which
he now used in prefer-
ence to charcoal, and
which collectors, ever sus-
ceptible to the charms of
colour, seem to the more
appreciate.
We now hasten on to
consider the work of the
painter, following the
different phases of his art
from the struggles of his
debut to the apex of his
career. The first period
extends from 1866, the
year of his first appear-
ance at the Salon, till
1873, when a very charm-
ing work, Le Lutrin, gave
promise of most import-
ant achievements. The
second period starts in
1874 with La Alois son,
already named, which
indicates already the road
which the artist now has-
8
tens to tread. This period is illustrative of what
we shall call the first manner. If it still betrays
some hesitation in the choice of subjects it num-
bers certain charming pieces, such as EAieule
(Musee de Gand) and Le Cabaret (1881), a
powerful painting of a peasant theme with life-
sized figures, and, like EAieule, containing the
germ of those qualities which find their fruition
later in La paye des Moissoneries (1882), a work
of the transition period still, on account of the
rather commonplace secondary characters, but in
which the figure of the resting reaper gives to
the work its moral significance. This figure is a
discovery. It symbolises the rugged, yet noble,
toil of the soil, and harks back to the mother idea
which formerly inspired the painter. From this
work—a favourite with the public at the Luxem-
bourg Museum, and one which has been popularised
by engraved and lithographic reproductions —Lher-
mitte’s style of painting continues to gain in breadth.
(In the Ghent Museum) by LEON LHERMITTE
he executed his first plate, etched under the eye
of Legros, who helped him and superintended the
biting. The subject was a Renaissance cuirasse
damascened with foliage, destined for the work
which Ed. Sievre was editing. The latter was so
pleased with the result that he at once entrusted
Lhermitte with the making of a series of plates,
twelve in number. The “Etcher’s Portfolio”
appealed to his talent, and Arthur Tooth, who had
been one of the first to presage the success of the
young artist, commissioned from him two excellent
landscapes, E Eglise St. Maclou and La Cathedra1 e
de Rouen. The limited space at my disposal com-
pels me to refer the reader to the work in which I
have described and catalogued the forty-four plates
which constitute the etched work of Lhermitte
(“Les eaux-fortes de Leon Lhermitte,” published
by Alphonse Lemerre, Paris, 1905).
When in 1886, a society of Pastellists was started,
modelled on the Society of Water-colour Painters,
Lhermitte became a
member, and from its
foundation took a promi-
nent place. It hardly
seemed as though he had
changed his metier, so
much at home did he
find himself at once in
the new medium, which
he now used in prefer-
ence to charcoal, and
which collectors, ever sus-
ceptible to the charms of
colour, seem to the more
appreciate.
We now hasten on to
consider the work of the
painter, following the
different phases of his art
from the struggles of his
debut to the apex of his
career. The first period
extends from 1866, the
year of his first appear-
ance at the Salon, till
1873, when a very charm-
ing work, Le Lutrin, gave
promise of most import-
ant achievements. The
second period starts in
1874 with La Alois son,
already named, which
indicates already the road
which the artist now has-
8
tens to tread. This period is illustrative of what
we shall call the first manner. If it still betrays
some hesitation in the choice of subjects it num-
bers certain charming pieces, such as EAieule
(Musee de Gand) and Le Cabaret (1881), a
powerful painting of a peasant theme with life-
sized figures, and, like EAieule, containing the
germ of those qualities which find their fruition
later in La paye des Moissoneries (1882), a work
of the transition period still, on account of the
rather commonplace secondary characters, but in
which the figure of the resting reaper gives to
the work its moral significance. This figure is a
discovery. It symbolises the rugged, yet noble,
toil of the soil, and harks back to the mother idea
which formerly inspired the painter. From this
work—a favourite with the public at the Luxem-
bourg Museum, and one which has been popularised
by engraved and lithographic reproductions —Lher-
mitte’s style of painting continues to gain in breadth.
(In the Ghent Museum) by LEON LHERMITTE