Louis Hayet

Private Collection

Pontoise, Musée Tavet, Louis Hayet, oeuvres néo-impressionnistes de 1885 à 1895, 1991

Guy Dulon & Christophe Duvivier, Louis Hayet: peintre et théoricien du néo-impressionnisme, Pontoise, 1991, illustrated in color p. 139

Canvas is lined. Colors are bright and fresh. Under UV light: a few small pindot strokes of inpainting are visible throughout the canvas, including a nailhead-sized area of retouching in the extreme upper left corner and a cluster of small strokes in the lower right corner. There is a small concentration of strokes of inpainting at the center of the canvas. Overall the work is in very good condition.
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A decorative painter by trade and largely self-taught, Louis Hayet took interest in the scientific study of optical and color theories which in turn informed his Neo-Impressionist technique. Eventually he befriended Camille and Lucien Pissarro, both of whom offered crucial connections that allowed Hayet a brief and extremely productive period as a successful artist in Paris. It was during these years, from 1887 to 1890, that Hayet executed his finest works. He was troubled and brooding, however, and in 1890 he unexpectedly withdrew from Parisian artistic circles by resigning from the Indépendants and renouncing Divisionism. He worked the remainder of his life in relative obscurity.

Bord de l'Oise à l'aube, Pontoise is a superb and extremely rare example of Hayet's oeuvre at the apex of his short career. Exceptional not only in quality but also in size (for the artist was known to paint on smaller scale) the image captures the misty and atmospheric qualities of the early morning air in an array of staccato brushstrokes.  

 

Fig. 1 Louis Hayet, La colline bleue, 1888, oil on canvas, Private Collection