Theo van Rysselberghe
(Belgian, 1862-1926)

"Mimosas, St. Clair", 1912

oil on canvas
monogrammed lower left, verso with artist label inscribed with the title and a partial "Galerie Georges Giroux" label.
Framed.
17" x 20", framed 24" x 26-1/2"

Provenance: Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels, Belgium; Sotheby's, New York, June 22, 1983, lot 20; Collection of Monica Perls and the late Hugo Perls (1886-1977), New York; The Estate of Gary Baxter Webb, Houston, Texas; Private collection, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Literature: Feltkamp, Ronald. Theo van Rysselberghe, 1862-1926. Paris: Editions de l'amateur, 2003, no. 1912-028.

Notes: Theo van Rysselberghe was a talented Belgian Neo-Impressionist, who was one of the founding members of the Brussels avant-garde group Les Vingt (The Twenty). The group, comprised of twenty independent artists, promoted diverse styles that rejected the traditions of the art academies and the Salon which sanctioned them through state-funded exhibitions. Instead, they exhibited annually on their own in concert with twenty other invited international artists. Through these exhibitions, van Rysselberghe was introduced to French Neo-Impressionism and the divisionist technique of employing dots of pigment and allowing the eye to mix them through a complex understanding of color theory and optics rather than mixing them on the palette. The painting offered here is a fine example of his early exploration with divisionism, whereas this oeuvre, painted after he moved to Paris in 1897, shows a far greater command of the technique in the juxtaposition of the mimosas with the complimentary colored decorative background. Though not dated, van Rysselberghe painted three other paintings of mimosas in 1912 that, according to Ronald Feltkamp, are consistent with the style in this example.

In overall very good condition. The canvas has been relined and there is a small area of inpainting from an old loss to the lower left corner. Certain pigments illuminate under UV light (leaved) possibly due to the chemical composition. Frame with surface marks, nicks, abrasions and stain to the liner.