Paul Cézanne, Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, 1885-86
Cézanne used a wide choice of pigments to depict this wintry landscape. Learn about the complete pigment analysis of this painting at colourlex.com.
“The painting is a fully representative work of the artist’s mature period. It was painted between 1885 and 1887, when Cézanne was producing some of his most beautiful and significant canvases of Mont Sainte-Victoire, Gardanne, and the Jas de Bouffan. The last, which was his favorite motif after Mont Sainte-Victoire, appeared in fifty-two works dating from his youth until the estate was sold in 1899. Many views of the Jas de Bouffan depict this same avenue of chestnut trees, but this is the only one to present the scene in winter. In the bold, full forms, here stripped by season and artist together of the incidental elements that would obscure their essential character, the spectator experiences a powerful awareness of the eternal and immutable quality of nature.”
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin, 39, no. 1 (January, 1950): 2-7.
Edgar Degas, Combing the Hair (La Coiffure), about 1896
'Combing the Hair' is one of the versions of Degas's favourite theme in his late years. The intensity and variety of the red colours is exceptional. Degas achieved all the shades of red with only three red pigments: vermilion, red ochre and red lead. Read more.
Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889
'Wheatfield with Cypresses' was painted by Van Gogh in tha last year of his life and is one of his most famous landscapes. The bright and vivid pigments - chrome yellow for the wheatfield and emerald green and viridian (hydrated chromium oxide) for the cypresses and shrubs are chracteristic for Van Gogh. Learn about the complete pigment analysis of this painting at colourlex.com.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Boating on the Seine (La Yole), about 1879
Renoir used the typical pigments of the impressionists in this painting showing a boating scene on the Seine: cobalt blue for the water, chrome yellow for the boat and viridian for the green shrubs and foliage. Learn about the complete pigment analysis at colourlex.com
Renoir used the typical pigments of the impressionists in this painting showing a boating scene on the Seine: cobalt blue for the water, chrome yellow for the boat and viridian for the green shrubs and foliage. Learn about the complete pigment analysis at colourlex.com
