DELPY, HIPPOLYTE CAMILLE (French, 1842-1910) "L'Armançon à Laroche" Signed LR., with artist's initials on verso Oil on panel, 14 3/4" x 18" (sight); 22" x 26" (framed). Price Category: D

Hippolyte Camille Delpy, an important nineteenth century French landscape painter, was born in Joigny in 1842. He is best know today for beautifully composed landscapes executed in the style of the Barbizon School. Barbizon landscapes are characterized by their realism and tranquil, meditative attitude toward nature. Barbizon, a village on the edge of the Fontainebleau Forest to the south of Paris, was the hub for a group of painters active around the middle of the nineteenth century. This generation formed a bridge between the academic salon painters of the first quarter of the century and the impressionists, who came onto the scene in 1870s. In their day, the Barbizon painters-among them Rousseau, Daubigny, Corot, Millet, Dupré, Millet, Diaz, Troyon, and others-were considered revolutionary, preferring to paint outdoors "en plein air" rather than in studios and elevating landscape itself to a respectable place in the hierarchy of approved subjects. (For the French Academy, landscape was considered significant only as background for historical, or mythological scenes, with an emphasis on foreground figures.) The impressionists followed the lead of the Barbizon painters, breaking entirely with the academic tradition: sketching outdoors, seeking new subjects, using much brighter colors, and freeing up their brush strokes. But some of these tendencies were already present in the second generation of Barbizon painters, to which Delpy belongs. In fact, Delpy can be considered a transitional figure. He studied with Daubigny and Corot and remained close to them all his life, but he also befriended Pissarro and Cezanne and in return was encouraged by them to add richer colors to his palette. The impressionist touch can clearly be seen in this beautiful river scene. Like his mentors Daubigny and Corot, Delpy was attracted to picturesque subject matter: the countryside, majestic sunsets, but chiefly the French waterways. A contemporary reviewer praised him for trying "to get at the spirit of things. He sees skies as tragic or idyllic, full of indulgence or anger, as they are in reality." Delpy enjoyed considerable success as a Salon painter, where he made his debut in 1869 and became a regular contributor from 1873. His first exhibition was at the Galerie des Artistes Modernes in Paris. In 1881 and 1889 he was awarded honorable mentions for his work. In 1884 and 1889 he received medals, and in 1886 he became a member of the prestigious Société des Artists Français. The World Exposition of 1900 featured works by Delpy alongside those of Whistler, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, and Renoir. His paintings were the subject of two major retrospectives in Paris in 1890 and 1908 at the Galerie Georges Petit, which also promoted Pissarro, Sisley, and Monet. This painting is offered in a magnificent carved period frame along with a letter of authentication from Madame Michèle Lannoy-Duputel, Delpy's biographer, who is working on a catalogue raisonné for the artist, which will include this work. Provenance: Waterhouse & Dodd, London Museums: Baltimore (Maryland Institute College of Art, Walters Art Gallery) Béziers Brigham Young University Fine Arts Collection, Provo, Utah Chambéry Louviers Paris (Musée Carnavalet) Phoenix Art Museim Newcastle-on-Tyne (Laing Art Gallery) References: E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs Jean Bouret, The Barbizon Schook and 19th Century French Landscape Painting H. H. Caplan, The Classified Directory of Artists' Signatures, Symbols & Monograms John Castagno, European Artisits: Signatures and Monograms, 1900-1990 M. Lannoy-Duputel, Hippolyte-Camille Delpy, 1842-1910 (with text in French and English, illustrated) K.G. Sauer, Allegemeines Kunstler-Lexikon U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allegemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler

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