Brief Report

This small painting is part of a group of several works by Gausson on this theme; alongside the picture in Cologne there exist a drawing and two more studies in oils [Hanotelle 2000, cat. no. 12]. There are problems regarding the dating: two inscriptions verso (fig. 9), whose authenticity is however uncertain, say 1883. But this would place the work right at the beginning of Gausson’s career. However it was only in the mid 1880s that Gausson began to work in the Pointillist style à la Signac. In addition, a drawing that corresponds in detail to the graphic lay-in of this painting, is dated 1885 (fig. 5).

The painting is executed on an unprimed poplar panel, which today looks reddish-brown, but was originally much paler (fig. 6). As the paint was not applied to the whole surface by any means, the colour of the picture support plays a major role for the total effect (fig. 7). As a result, the appearance of the panel is now very different, owing to the darkening of the wood.

The motif was planned exactly, with perspective lines and a vanishing point. Within this framework, the underdrawing of the various elements of the picture was freely executed (figs. 3, 4). Following the contour lines in colour and the background painting of various areas, the individual paint layers were applied by dabbing wet-in-wet. The frame, with an inner frame painted in the Pointillist manner, is not original.

Léo Gausson
The Rue des Étuves in Lagny-sur-Marne, c. 1885, oil on poplar, 28.5 x 20.5, WRM Dep. FC 745

Léo Gausson

born on 14 February 1860 in Lagny-sur-Marne,
died on 27 October 1944 ibidem

Brief report with complete data as downloadable pdf-file

Further illustrations:

Fig. 02

Verso


Fig. 03

IR reflectogram


Fig. 04

Mapping of the perspective lines and some other
underdrawing elements in the IR reflectogram


Fig. 05

Pencil drawing by Gausson on paper in the Musée Gatien-Bonnet, Lagny-sur-Marne, dated 1885


Fig. 06

Areas of missing paint reveal the original pale tone of the poplar, microscope photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 07

Detail of the paint-layer applications; where no paint was applied, the red-brown of the wood, due to aging, is evident


Fig. 08

Detail in raking light; alongside the brushstrokes, what it reveals above all is the fraying of the panel, with scrub-
plane traces


Fig. 09

Pencil inscriptions of doubtful authorship verso


Fig. 10

The surface structure of the paint application, microscope photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 11

Semicircular structures, microscope photograph in raking light (M = 1 mm)