Brief Report

For the Pointillist painting Road with Broom Laugé used a standard P20 canvas which was given a white ground after stretching. On the surface, the artist first used charcoal to draw a detailed diagonal and orthogonal orientation grid of a kind seldom noted anywhere else; it can be made clearly visible with the help of infra-red radiation (figs 7-9). Geometrically identical grids can be found in many of Laugé's extant drawings [Laugé 1990, pp 73-75] (fig. 13). In the history of art, line constructions of this kind are known from theory and from analyses of pictures, for example in the drawings of Claude Lorrain, Balthus and Jan Atlink [von Saint-George/Schaefer 2008, pp. 268-269]. In the present case, however, it is unclear whether Laugé used the grid primarily as a means of general geometric ordering, or whether it served to transfer the motif from a separate no longer extant preliminary drawing. The use of such a detailed grid seems somewhat puzzling in view of the really very simple pictorial composition of the landscape motif of a Road with Broom, especially since there is no part of the picture that seems actually to correspond to the lines. Be that as it may, after laying in the grid, the artist sketched the individual elements, likewise in charcoal, in brisk, loose, searching lines. Then a blue, slightly transparent underpainting was applied to the whole surface, lending the whole painting a soft, atmospheric touch (figs 9, 10). On top of this, the artist applied the yellow and green of the fields (fig. 10). This was followed by pink, which was often applied somewhat more impasto. In a final phase, Laugé used very dry paint to apply mainly blue and yellow hues in order to modulate or give enhanced structure to certain areas of the picture. Depending on the position and the purpose of the colours in the painting, the dabs of paint were larger or smaller, so that the perspective is supported by the brushwork. Thus for example the dots in the background are very much smaller than in the foreground. Laugé worked with a mix of binding media - wax and oil - which was probably applied warm. With the particularly matt character of this material and the shimmering effect of his divisionist technique the artist has succeeded in creating the atmosphere of a sun-drenched landscape.

Achille Laugé
Road with Broom, c. 1900, Mixed media (oil, wax) on canvas, 53.9 x 72.5 cm, WRM Dep. FC 759

Achille Laugé

born on 29 August 1861 in Arzens (Aude), Languedoc,
died on 2 June 1944 in Cailhau (Aude), near Carcassone

Brief report with complete data as downloadable pdf-file

Further illustrations:

Fig. 02

Verso


Fig. 03

Raking light


Fig. 04

Transmitted light


Fig. 05

UV fluorescence


Fig. 06

Signature added after paint-layers had dried, microscopic photographs (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 07

IR reflectogram showing the grid of orthogonal and diagonal lines, reconstruction of the complete grid top right in red


Fig. 08

Anthracite to black lines of the underdrawing, presumably in charcoal, microscopic photograhs (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 09

Detail, beneath the dabs of paint the pale blue underpainting is visible, in addition one can see a diagonal line from the underdrawn grid


Fig. 10

Detail, the sequence of paint applications began with the pale-blue underpainting, followed by the yellow colour blocks and finally the pink, blue and yellow dots and dabs, mostly added after the underlying layer had dried


Fig. 11

Detail under raking light, surface structure with visible brushwork and soft flow of paint presumably due to the high proportion of wax in the binding agent


Fig. 12

Waxy paint layers and conspicuous pigmentation, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 13

Achille Laugé, Orchard at Alet, n.d., charcoal, pencil and white chalk on grey paper, 25 x 32 cm