The Château Gaillard, View from My Window, Petit Andely
Framed: 22 3/4 × 30 1/2 × 2 1/2 inches (57.79 × 77.47 × 6.35 cm)
- 127
Deuxième exposition de la Société des Artistes indépendants, Bâtiment B, rue des Tuileries, Paris, August 21–September 21, 1886, no. 367, as Le château Gaillard, vu de ma fenêtre.—Petit-Andely.—Juin-juillet 1886.
Nature as Scene: French Landscape Painting from Poussin to Bonnard, Wildenstein, New York, October 29–December 6, 1975, no. 60, asPetit-Andely: Château Gaillard, Seen from the Artist’s Window.
Scenes of France: 19th and 20th Century Paintings and Drawings from the Gallery’s Collection, Wildenstein, New York, September 7–October 2, 1976, no cat.
New Acquisitions, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 28–August 19, 1979, no cat.
A Bountiful Decade: Selected Acquisitions, 1977–1987, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 14–December 6, 1987, no. 44, as Le Château Gaillard, Les Andelys.
Impressionism: Selections from Five American Museums, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, November 4–December 31, 1989; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, January 27–March 25, 1990; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, April 21–June 17, 1990; The Saint Louis Art Museum, July 14–September 9, 1990; The Toledo Museum of Art, September 30–November 25, 1990, no. 79, as Château Gaillard, Seen from the Artist’s Window, Petit Andely.
Seurat and the Making of “La Grande Jatte”, The Art Institute of Chicago, June 16–September 19, 2004, no. 115, as Les Andelys, Château Gaillard.
This sunlit landscape is constructed by juxtaposing small brushstrokes of vibrant colors in varying sizes. Unlike Georges Seurat’s Pointillist technique of using small dots of paint to compose a scene, Paul Signac separated color through individual brushstrokes of pigment. This technique came to be called Divisionism.
The meticulous
separation of colors Signac used here relates to a scientific theory of the
time called “optical mixture.” This principle held that colored light from the
dabs of paint blended in the viewer’s eye, resulting in a shimmering light
effect.
Paul Signac (1863–1935), Paris, 1886–1920s;
Purchased from Signac by Galerie M. Goldschmidt, Frankfurt, 1920s [1];
Räthe Richter, Berlin;
With
Moderne Galerie Thannhauser, Munich, stock no. 6920 [2];Purchased from
Moderne Galerie Thannhauser by Leopold Samuel (1891–1970) and Karen Eva (neé Rosin, 1905–2000) Gutmann, Berlin and New York, ca. 1927–October 6, 1970 [3];Inherited by Karen Eva Gutmann, New York, 1970–May 23, 1978 [4];
Purchased from Gutmann, through Zargar, Inc., New York, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1978 [5].
NOTES:
[1] During Signac’s lifetime, he created three chronological lists of his paintings: the cahier d’opus (compiled 1887–1902), the cahier manuscript (compiled 1902–1909), and the pré-catalogue (compiled 1929–1932). The first two inventories contain no provenance information for the Nelson-Atkins painting, but the pré-catalogue lists two owners, "Goldschmidt" and "Räthe Richter Berlin," in that order. See Archives Paul Signac, Paris.
Françoise Cachin identified Goldschmidt as Galerie M. Goldschmidt, Frankfurt, a gallery with which Signac entered into contract in 1920. The gallery purchased roughly two dozen works directly from Signac during the 1920s. See Françoise Cachin, Signac: Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint (Paris: Éditions Gallimard, 2000), no. 120, p. 174; email from Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon, independent art historian, to Brigid M. Boyle, NAMA, September 13, 2022, NAMA curatorial files; and email from Charlotte Hellman, great-granddaughter of Signac, to Brigid M. Boyle, NAMA, October 11, 2022, NAMA curatorial files.
The archives of Galerie M. Goldschmidt are presumed lost. A few years after the passing of the gallery’s founder, Marcel Goldschmidt (né Mayer Goldschmidt, 1860–1928), his wife and children scattered to other countries to escape Nazi persecution. Goldschmidt’s living relatives are unsure what became of his business records. See emails from Jennifer Jacobson, great-great-granddaughter of Goldschmidt, to Brigid M. Boyle, NAMA, September 12, 2022 and October 6, 2022, NAMA curatorial files; and email from Brigid M. Boyle, NAMA, to Naomi Goodman, great-granddaughter of Goldschmidt, October 10, 2022, NAMA curatorial files.
[2] A partial label on the painting’s verso was confirmed to be a
Moderne Galerie Thannhauser label by Brigitte Jacobs van Renswou, Zentralarchiv des internationalen kunsthandels E.V., in an email to MacKenzie Mallon, NAMA, September 21, 2015, NAMA curatorial files.[3] See letter from Dara Zargar, agent for Karen Gutmann, to Ralph T. Coe, NAMA, March 29, 1978, NAMA curatorial files, which states that "it was bought from the Galerie Thannhauser in Munich." This chain of ownership is further corroborated by a typed addendum to the Nelson-Atkins accessioning worksheet, which indicates that Justin K. Thannhauser sold the painting to Karen Gutmann "per tel. call to Gutmann Frames, NY, 2/17/87." No further notes concerning this phone call have been found.
According to Françoise Cachin’s handwritten notes in her research dossier on The Château Gaillard (compiled as she prepared the Signac catalogue raisonné), the painting belonged to the Gutmanns "depuis 1927" (since 1927). See Archives Paul Signac, Paris. The couple may have purchased the work to celebrate their recent nuptials since they were married on January 8, 1927.
The Gutmanns emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1935 to escape Nazi persecution. They returned to Europe one more time in 1937, and then moved to New York permanently that same year, bringing their art collection with them. The Signac painting remained in their joint possession until Leopold’s death in 1970, after which Karen inherited it. See letter from Leopold S. Gutmann to Françoise Cachin, September 24, 1969, Archives Paul Signac, Paris; and emails from Mark Jacob Sussman, grandson of the Gutmanns, to Brigid M. Boyle, NAMA, October 7 and 12, 2022, NAMA curatorial files.
[4] Gutmann consigned The Château Gaillard to Wildenstein and Co., New York, from February 1975 to January 1977. During this period, Wildenstein included the painting in two exhibitions, Nature as Scene: French Landscape Painting from Poussin to Bonnard (October 29–December 6, 1975) and Scenes of France: 19th and 20th Century Paintings and Drawings from the Gallery’s Collection (September 7–October 2, 1976). See letter from Ay-Whang Hsia, Wildenstein and Co., to Eliot Rowlands, NAMA, February 23, 1987, NAMA curatorial files.
[5] Zargar, Inc., was owned by Dara Zargar (b. 1941), an Iranian art agent with residences in Manhattan and Miami.
Société des Artistes indépendants: Peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, dessinateurs et architectes; Catalogue des œuvres exposées , exh. cat. (Paris: Imprimerie A. Lahure, 1886), 22 [repr., in Theodore Reff, ed., Modern Art in Paris: Two-Hundred Catalogues of the Major Exhibitions Reproduced in Facsimile in Forty-Seven Volumes , vol. 9, Salons of the “Indépendants” 1884–1891 (New York: Garland, 1981), unpaginated], as Le château Gaillard, vu de ma fenêtre.—Petit-Andely.—Juin-juillet 1886 .
Gustave Geffroy, “Chronique: Artistes indépendants,” La Justice, no. 2411 (August 21, 1886): 2.
Charles Vignier, “L’Exposition des Indépendants,”La Vie Moderne et Tout Paris, no. 38 (September 18, 1886): 604, as Le château Gaillard.
Felix Fénéon, “Correspondance particulière de 'L’Art moderne:' L’Impressionnisme aux Tuileries,” L’Art moderne 6, no. 38 (September 19, 1886): 301, as le Château-Gaillard de ma fenêtre.
Robert Bernier, “Salon de la Société des Indépendants: 2me Exposition,” La Revue moderne littéraire, politique et artistique 2, no. 33 (September 20, 1886): 617, asChâteau Gaillard vu de ma fenêtre au Petit Andely.
Felix Fénéon, Les Impressionnistes en 1886 (Paris: Publications de “La vogue,” 1886), 40.
Marie-Thérèse Lemoyne de Forges, Signac, exh. cat. (Paris: Ministère d’état, Affaires culturelles, 1963), 15.
Felix Fénéon, Au-delà de l’impressionnisme, ed. Françoise Cachin (Paris: Hermann, 1966), 71, 78, as Le Château-Gaillard de ma fenêtre.
Félix Fénéon, Œuvres plus que complètes, ed. Joan U. Halperin (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1970), 1:43, 56, as le Château-Gaillard de ma fenêtre.
Françoise Cachin, Paul Signac, trans. Michael Bullock (Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1971), 26.
Nature as Scene: French Landscape Painting from Poussin to Bonnard , exh. cat. (New York: Wildenstein, 1975), unpaginated, as Petit-Andely: Château Gaillard, Seen from the Artist’s Window.
Donald Hoffmann, “New Artworks Go On Exhibit at Nelson,”Kansas City Times 110, no. 225 (May 27, 1978): 11C, as Chateau Gaillard [sic].
“Gallery Attraction,” Kansas City Star 98, no. 238 (June 4, 1978): 1F, (repro.), as Chateau Gaillard [sic].
“Principales acquisitions des musées en 1978,”Gazette des Beaux-Arts 93, no. 1323 (April 1979): 49, (repro.), as Château-Gaillard.
Donald Hoffmann, “Gallery Visitors, Revenues Down,” Kansas City Star 99, no. 270 (July 29, 1979): 28A.
Donald Hoffmann, “Intensity and nuance: the Nelson’s new pastels,” Kansas City Star 100, no. 77 (December 16, 1979): 27.
Sophie Monneret, L’impressionnisme et son époque: Dictionnaire international illustré (Paris: Editions Denoël, 1979–1980), 2:255, 3:245.
Donald Hoffmann, “The fine art of contributing to the gallery,” Kansas City Star 101, no. 225 (June 7, 1981): 1F.
Roger Ward, ed., A Bountiful Decade: Selected Acquisitions, 1977–1987, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1987), 108–09, (repro.), as Le Château Gaillard, Les Andelys.
Marc S. Gerstein, Impressionism: Selections from Five American Museums, exh. cat. (New York: Hudson Hills, 1989), 12, 15, 21, 90, 180–81, (repro.), as Château Gaillard, Seen from the Artist’s Window, Petit Andely.
David Lewis, “Museum Impressions,” Carnegie Magazine 59, no. 12 (November–December 1989): 46.
Alice Thorson, “The Nelson Celebrates its 60th,” Kansas City Star 113, no. 304 (July 18, 1993): J-5.
Michael Churchman and Scott Erbes, High Ideals and Aspirations: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1933–1993 (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 99, asChâteau Gaillard, Seen from the Artist’s Window, Petit Andely.
Importants tableaux et sculptures modernes: Succession Palazzolo, succession Michel Guy, et à divers amateurs (Paris: Hotel Drouot, June 21, 1993), unpaginated.
Roger B. Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 210, (repro.), as Château Gaillard, Seen from the Artist’s Window, Petit Andely.
Gloria Groom, “Acquisitions in Focus: The Art Institute of Chicago,” Apollo 142, no. 406 (December 1995): 59, 61n4.
Françoise Cachin, Signac: Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint (Paris: Éditions Gallimard, 2000), no. 120, pp. 174, 352, (repro.), as Les Andelys. Château-Gaillard.
Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon et al., Signac: 1863–1935, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001), 107, 121, 301.
Anne Distel, Signac: Au temps d’harmonie, exh. cat. (Paris: Gallimard / Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001), 33.
Françoise Cachin and Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon, P. Signac, exh. cat. (Paris: A.D.A.G.P., 2003), 32, 178, 232, 261.
Robert L. Herbert, Seurat and the Making of “La Grande Jatte”, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2004), 134, 138–39, 277, 281, 287, (repro.), as Les Andelys, Château Gaillard.
Robyn Roslak, “Symphonic Seas, Oceans of Liberty: Paul Signac’sLa Mer: Les Barques (Concarneau),” Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 4, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 39n11, http://19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/component/content/article/64-spring05article/302-symphonic-seas-oceans-of-liberty-paul-signacs-la-mer-les-barques-concarneau.
Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts (Berlin: Villa Grisebach Auktionen, November 26, 2005), unpaginated.
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 122–23, (repro.), as Les Andelys, Château Gaillard.
Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2008), 115 [repr., Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, The Age of French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2010), 129].
Guy Cogeval et al., Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionism from the Musée d’Orsay , exh. cat. (Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 2009), 108.
Marina Ferretti Bocquillon, ed., Impressionism on the Seine (Giverny, France: Musée des impressionnismes, 2010), 57–58, 65n14, asThe Château-Gaillard from my window and Les Andelys, Château-Gaillard, June-July.
Moderne und Zeitgennössische Kunst: Moderne Graphik (Zurich: Koller Zürich, December 7, 2012), 34, 36, (repro.), as Les Andelys, Château Gaillard.
Annette Blaugrund, ed., Charting New Waters: Redefining Marine Painting; Masterworks from the Burrichter/Kierlin Collection (Winona, MN: Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 2013), 86, 86n3, as Les Andelys, Château Gaillard.
Catherine Futter et al., Bloch Galleries: Highlights from the Collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2016), 99, (repro.), asThe Château Gaillard, View from My Window, Petit Andely.
Art moderne (Paris: Christie’s, October 18, 2019), 146.
European Art and Old Masters (Philadelphia: Freeman’s, February 18, 2020), unpaginated.
Kristie C. Wolferman, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A History (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2020), 264, as Chateau Gaillard, View from My Window, Petit Andely [sic ].
Brigid M. Boyle, “Paul Signac, The Château Gaillard, View from My Window, Petit-Andely, 1886,” catalogue entry in French Paintings, 1600–1945: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2023), https://doi.org/10.37764/78973.5.728.5407.
