Oil on canvas

50 × 61 cm. 19 5/8 × 24 in.

Signed in French on bottom right; signed and titled in French on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

Note: A label of Hong Kong Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery is affixed on the reverse. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Stern Pissarro Gallery

Where the Heart Is at Peace, There Is My Hometown
The Colourful Return of Hugues Claude Pissarro

Huges Claude Pissarro is gifted and was often inspired by the family of Pissarro. In the 1950s, he studied at the l'École du Louvre and the l'École normale supérieure in Paris, and after graduation, he was invited by the government to teach in Monaco. In 1959, he was commissioned by the White House to paint a portrait of the President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the 1960s, he explored various painting styles, from figurative to abstract, avant-garde to minimalist, and even conceptual art, constantly advancing his skills. Since the 1980s, he has used paint tubes and his fingers to produce landscape paintings. The masterpiece Le Champ de Placy presented in this autumn auction showcases his maturity as an artist in the 1990s.

Rolling Clouds, Beautiful Lingering

The artwork depicts a sunny and gentle autumn day, with two women conversing harmoniously in a field. The atmosphere in the painting is exuding a sense of tranquil and eternal life. The two women, dressed in 19th-century clothing, facing each other—the one in a red dress stands upright with her hands behind her back, while the one in blue bows her head and raises her arms slightly to welcome the other.

The indigo blue and vermilion clothes contrast with the orange and green grass, making the figures in the large field stand out and unite nature and humanity. In the foreground, three trees stand in a row, basking in the sunlight, their shadows creating a contrast with the soft and bright grass. The diagonal passage between the women expands the painting's depth. In the background, dense trees interweave, blending into the titanium white clouds and extending to the azure sky.

Le Champ de Placy is a masterpiece that embodies Hugues Claude Pissarro's contribution to the Pointillist movement. He faithfully recreates the fields' dynamic and natural scenery with short, fragmented brushstrokes, capturing the bright sunlight illuminating the grass, the red flowers that seem to leap between the bushes, and the dotted white clouds surrounding the dark trees.

His works possess a poetic style that is rare and unique in the rumbustious and fast-paced contemporary society. This allows viewers to revisit 19th-century France and express his longing for his homeland. This is not only the artist's journey in search of a sense of belonging but also an opportunity for viewers to reconsider the journey of "Pissarro."

Price estimate:
HKD 45,000 – 80,000
USD 5,800 – 10,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 72,000