catalog text
LÉON RICHET
French, 1847-1907
A Barbizon Landscape of a Rural Farm and Peasant Woman
Oil on canvas | Signed "Leon Richet" lower left | executed circa 1880-85
Item # 102JUW25X
A very fine landscape scene of a rural farm house, a dirt path meanders through autumnal grasses before a rickety fence lining the property of the stone and stucco farm house with its thatched roof. A lone peasant woman stands before a group of trees at the end of the path, watching the painter with her face obscured by the shadows. With an intricate layering of pigments in a chaotic and frenetic brushwork, with large heavy impasto strokes, tiny specks and flecks of paint, stippling and also slow drawn out strokes leaving streams of color, Richet captures the overwhelming complexity of a natural field and grove.
The stretcher bars are stamped verso with the gallery stamp of Artimedes AG of Schaan, Switzerland. The reverse of the canvas retains the original art supply house stenciled branding.
LÉON RICHET (FRENCH, 1847-1907)
Born in Solesmes, France in 1847 (generally accepted as 15 April, some texts reference 1843 as his possible birth year), Richet studied under Ambroise Détrez at Valenciennes Academy before becoming a pupil of Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Peña (French, 1807-1876) and later studying under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre in Paris; Richet collaborated with Lefebvre on several paintings, with the figures being contributed by Lefebvre and Richet handling the landscapes.
Diaz would be most influential on his career both as a tutor and mentor, as is evident in the close thematic and stylistic parallels found in their work. But it is Lefebvre's influence on Richet's ability to capture light, the reflections on water and a general openness in his landscapes that set his work apart from the often shadowy and atmospheric works of his contemporaries. He introduced Richet to the Barbizon School, a group of like-minded artists working in Barbizon, France and in the Forest of Fontainebleau with an avante-garde view of the landscape. The traditionally acceptable way of capturing landscape was over-idealized framework for historical storytelling, the landscape being a secondary element for the larger story of the painting that is often devoid of honesty and chaos; the Barbizon School sought to rebel against this notion, their efforts aimed at attempting to capture nature and life exactly as it exists without romance or idealization. The school was active from 1830 through around 1870 and featured such luminaries as Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Jean-Francois Millet and Theodore Rousseau, an artist who inspired Richet considerably.
Richet featured at the Paris Salon and then at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Franćais starting in 1869 and he continued to exhibit regularly through 1906. He was awarded an honourable mention in 1885, a second class medal in 1888 and another second class medal in 1901. He was strongly influenced by the Barbizon School and by Rosseau in particular, painting extensively the Forest of Fontainebleau while eventually achieving some renown within the Barbizon School.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, vol. XI, Gründ, 2006, p. 1010-1011
- The Barbizon School and 19th-Century French Landscape Painting, Bouret, 1973, p. 256
Measurements: 18" H x 26" W [canvas]; 23 7/8" H x 31 3/4" W [frame]
Condition Report:
Canvas unlined. Light surface craquelure. Professionally conserved and cleaned, fresh Damar varnish applied. Under UV examination showing extensive flaring from fresh varnish, scattered inpainting along all four edges near the frame and a few dots in the sky, the darker elements of the image are difficult to examine through the fresh varnish but appears to be free of restoration. Currently hung in a contemporary frame, but the original frame will soon be back from our conservator (images available upon request) and may be included upon request only.