Louis ANQUETIN (Etrepagny 1861 - Paris 1932) Lot n° 8

Lili Grenier sleeping, winter 1886-1887 Original oil on canvas 37 x 29 cm Not signed On the back of the stretcher is the partially erased inscription in Albert Grenier's hand: Portrait de Lili Grenier par L.Anquetin, je suis au fond de l'atelier du 82 bd. de Clichy, 1888 This surprisingly modern work was painted by Louis Anquetin during the winter of 1886-1887. The painter had already been conducting his own research into color and the capture of light for two years. He experimented with new approaches such as impressionism from 1884 and divisionism from the spring of 1986. But these means of expression did not entirely satisfy him despite his astonishing mastery, as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec testified in November 1884, after having evoked his own work: "All in all, all that is weak next to the landscapes that Anquetin brought back (from vacation). Everyone is astonished. It is in an impressionist way that does him great honor. You really feel like a little boy next to a worker of this caliber." The vibrant brushstroke treatment used by Anquetin in this scene is a direct legacy of Impressionism. It is no longer the drawing that defines the body, the objects, but the color and the reflections of light on the forms. Thus, traditional perspective is challenged by the play of light and color that brings space closer to the surface. Anquetin voluntarily chose to paint the background the same color as the model's hair, to give the impression of erasing the subject, of dissolving into the background that is often found in works by Egard Degas, notably After the Bath, Nude Woman Wiping the Nape of Her Neck, 1898. It is with the same modernity that the two contemporary painters place the woman from behind, creating a sensation of voyeurism in the viewer who is witnessing an intimate scene. This impression is accentuated by the choice of an extremely tight framing. The composition and technique are resolutely modern for the time and make us understand the admiration that contemporary painters had for Louis Anquetin. Exhibition : Galerie Brame et Lorenceau "Louis Anquetin" March 26-April 20, 1991, no. 4 (noted as signed in the catalog)