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GUSTAVE LOISEAU | Nature Morte aux Fruits
Executed circa 1922, signed lower right 'G. Loiseau'
Oil on Board
38.5 x 47.5 cms / 15¼ x 18¾ inches
Renowned for his atmospheric en plein air landscapes painted in a distinctive Post-Impressionist manner, we are delighted to present this unique still life by Gustave Loiseau.
Loiseau’s artistic career was defined by the period he spent in the artists’ colony at Pont-Aven in Brittany in the 1890s. There he met Henry Moret and Maxime Maufra who influenced Loiseau use of bold colour in landscape painting and the leading artist of the Pont-Aven school Paul Gauguin, whose compositional methods helped to define Loiseau’s still lifes throughout his later years.
In 1894 Gauguin gifted Loiseau a still life, of Fleurs et Compotier de Fruits sur une Table (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), an enduring testament to the two artists’ relationship. This painting was accompanied by a small preparatory sketch with colour annotations in Gauguin’s hand, which suggests that Gauguin gave the younger artist technical advice for his compositions.
Decades later, the impact of Gauguin’s still lifes can be clearly seen here in Loiseau’s Nature Morte aux Fruits. Loiseau demonstrates a similar tendency to pare down objects to their essential forms with the heavily outlined éclairs and the ripe fruit. The cropped bottle of digestif, cut off by the top edge of the canvas is a deliberate compositional device also borrowed from Gauguin. Meanwhile a hint of a tablecloth in the foreground, built up with delightful textured and en trellis brushstrokes, a characteristic of Loiseau’s mature oeuvre, brings a gravity to the overall composition and invites the viewer in, ready to savor these after dinner delights.
Loiseau is one of the most foremost Post-Impressionist painters. He rebelled against the traditional practices of painting and joined the famous artists’ colony at Pont-Aven in Brittany in 1890. There he became companions with Henry Moret, Maxime Maufra and Paul Gauguin and under their influence, Loiseau embraced the use of bold colour and sought to expand and seek new aspects of the Impressionist style.
Like his Impressionist forebearers, Loiseau was a champion of painting the landscape en plein air. In his quest to create movement and light, Loiseau developed a distinct cross hatching technique which resulted in the supple and ephemeral quality for which his work is known.
Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir recognised Loiseau’s artistic talent and introduced him to the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who signed an exclusive contract with Loiseau in 1897. Loiseau’s work was exhibited widely during his lifetime and can be found in many notable museums and private collections.
