Brief Report on Technology and Condition

Transcription

1 Gustave Caillebotte ( ) Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil (Voilier sur la Seine à Argenteuil) 1893 undated, signed bottom left: G. Caillebotte Oil on canvas h 65.3 cm x b 54.4 cm WRM Dep. 622

2 Brief Report According to Berhaut this painting is a study (Fr. étude), which, together with two other works depicting the same motif, served as preparation for the large-format 1893 picture Regatta at Argenteuil [Berhaut 1994, pp ]. The canvas used by Caillebotte for the present picture, however, was by no means mere study grade, but a particularly pale, fine, and dense weave of high quality in the standard F 15 size. Caillebotte acquired the canvas, readystretched and pre-primed in off-white, from his Parisian art-supply dealer Dubus, whose name and address are noted verso [cf. Caillebotte WRM Dep. 828, WRM Dep. FC 727, WRM Dep. FC 689, WRM Dep. FC 561] (fig. 2). Dealers marks of this kind are often wrongly described as stamps, although they were quite clearly applied by stencilling, as is particularly obvious in the present example, where the edges of the stencil are visible. The canvas has another individual characteristic: verso there are remains of an original loose paper backing, such as we see preserved on other pictures by Caillebotte [Lewerentz 2008, p. 275] (fig.8). The small number of examples and lack of information in dealers catalogues and artists correspondence means that to date we can only speculate on the reasons for this paper backing, but they could represent an early measure to protect the canvas. The first lay-in of the motif was done in two stages, first in charcoal and then using a few brushstrokes in reddish-brown to black paint [cf. Caillebotte WRM Dep 828, WRM Dep. FC 706, WRM Dep. 447, WRM Dep. FC 561] (fig. 10). For one of the other sailing-boat paintings produced at the same time, there exists a squared-down pencildrawing, which evidently served the artist as a pattern [Berhaut 1994, cat. no. 471, p. 246; Chardeau 1989, p. 98]. The underdrawing of the painting in Cologne, however, exhibits no indication that a similar sketch was used. On the contrary, there is, at the lower edge of the picture, an impression, now retouched, made by the fastening of a field-easel, suggesting that the picture was painted in the open air [cf. Caillebotte WRM Dep. 828, WRM Dep. FC 727, WRM Dep. FC 561, WRM Dep. FC 689] (fig. 5). The painting was probably executed in one to two sessions. After the individual areas of the picture had been prepared by glazes in the local colour, the details were executed with brisk brushstrokes primarily wet-in-wet. Here and there a scratching instrument, presumably the shaft of the brush, was used to create accented structures in the still wet paint (fig. 11). The painting was not signed until the paint-layer was completely dry (fig. 7). The inscription, executed with a pointed brush in ink or India ink is not unambiguously that of Caillebotte and could also have been added posthumously. Berhaut thinks that this kind of signature was added by Caillebotte s brother Martial or the executor of the artist s will, Auguste Renoir [Berhaut 1994, p. 60, cf. Caillebotte WRM Dep. FC 689, WRM Dep. FC 727, WRM Dep. 828]. Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

3 Picture support canvas Standard format Weave Canvas characteristics Stretching Stretcher/strainer Stretcher/strainer depth F 15 (65.0 x 54.0 cm) vertical tabby weave vertical 28, horizontal 24 threads per cm; particularly pale, fine and dense weave with slight irregularities in the vertical direction (presumably the weft); Z-twist original stretching with nail intervals of cm; breadth of the turnover edge varies from cm; verso between the canvas and stretcher there are remains of an original paper backing: the paper is 0.25 mm thick, contains wood and is heavily browned (fig. 8); pencil markings along the edges of the canvas presumably served as a guide to cutting; additional holes in the turnover edges testify to a temporary fastening, presumably to fix the canvas and the paper to the stretcher in the course of stretching (fig. 9) original stretcher with horizontal centre-bar, chamfered verso 2.0 cm Traces left by manufacture/processing - Manufacturer s/dealer s marks stencilling on the canvas verso above the centre bar of the stretcher: 60 Bould Malesherbes Paris / DUBUS / COULEURS FINES & TOILES A PEINDRE / RENTOILAGE & RESTAURATION / DE TABLEAUX, h 11.5 cm (height of inscription) x b 19.0 cm (stencil edges); to the sides of the inscription the edges of the stencil have left distinct marks (fig. 2) Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

4 Ground Sizing Colour Application Binding medium Texture present off-white very thin, smooth, and even application of the priming before cutting to size and stretching; the textile structure remains visible although the elevations are covered; on the left-hand turnover edge the edge of the ground can be seen, presumably deriving from the industrially pre-primed length of canvas; the edge of the ground shows it to have been applied in two layers (fig. 9) presumably oil the ground is homogeneous and even; no microscopic pigment particles are discernible Composition planning/underpainting/underdrawing Medium/technique Extent/character compositional lay-in presumably in two stages: 1. charcoal; magnification shows the particles to be of highly irregular size and shape, some angular and unbound in any medium (fig. 10); 2. flat-ferrule brush and paint, reddish-brown to black (fig. 10) 1. the stereo-microscope reveals slight traces of charcoal, which suggest a first underdrawing in this medium; surplus charcoal may have been brushed away by the artist or smeared by the subsequent paint application 2. sketchy lay-in of the composition with a few quick, linear brushstrokes; thin, presumably quick-drying paint application, particularly evident in the region of the sailing-boat Pentimenti Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

5 Paint layer Paint application/technique and artist s own revision Painting tools Surface structure Palette brisk, loose method of painting; the motifs were first laid-in with a coloured glaze in one to two layers in the respective local colour: the trees on the bank in grey-green, the sky in greenish white, the hull of the boat in bluish violet, the mast in orange and the sails in white; the subsequent execution was largely wet-in-wet, but also wet-ondry; the brushwork is largely geared to the shapes of the individual motifs; lively impasto paint application in the region of the reflection of the boat in the water (fig. 12) brushes varying in width from cm, only in the foliage of the trees markedly narrower; presumably bristle brushes; use of a scratching instrument (brush shaft?) in the figure of the sailor (fig. 3 ) brushwork is clearly visible: heavily modelled and impasto in the region of the reflection in the water (fig. 12); however overall the paint application is smooth (fig. 3) visual microscopic inspection reveals: white, medium yellow, ochre, pale red, dark red lake, medium blue, dark blue, medium green, dark green; black only in blends VIS spectrometry: chrome yellow/cadmium yellow(?), vermilion, rose madder, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue(?), viridian Binding mediums presumably oil Surface finish Authenticity/Condition the present varnish is not authentic Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

6 Signature/Mark When? a handwritten signature G. Caillebotte in black ink or India ink, applied with a fine pointed brush on a paint-layer that had already dried (fig. 7) Autograph signature Serial while handwritten, the signature was very probably not applied by Caillebotte himself but after his death by his brother Martial or the executor of his will, Auguste Renoir (see above) Frame Authenticity not original State of preservation The canvas is brittle, some damage and tears in the turnover edge; slight deformation in the bottom righthand corner of the canvas; individual small losses in the paint-layer; black paint of signature is under tension, showing fine craquelure and already slight losses (fig. 7); long vertical scratch parallel to the left-hand edge of the picture dates from a time when the paint was not yet fully dry, i.e. during or shortly after the execution of the painting (fig. 3). Additional remarks The picture bears evidence of having been painted outdoors (see above). Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

7 Literature Berhaut 1994: Marie Berhaut, Catalogue raisonné des peintures et pastels, Paris 1994, cat. no.240, p. 245, with ill. and p. 50 Chardeau 1989: Jean Chardeau, Les dessins de Caillebotte, Paris 1989 Czymmek 2000: Götz Czymmek, Caillebotte im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Kölner Museums Bulletin, 3/2000, Lewerentz 2008: Katja Lewerentz, Gustave Caillebottes Maltechnik und die Praxis der Freilichtmalerei, in: Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, 2 (2008), Varnedoe 1987: Kirk Varnedoe, Gustave Caillebotte, 1987, New Haven/London Source of illustrations Fig. 8 (bottom): Dipl.-Rest. Julia Tholen, Dipl.-Rest. Amelie Menck-Schaa, Kunsthalle Bremen All further illustrations and figures Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud Examination methods used 3 Incident light 3 VIS spectrometry 3 Raking light Wood identification 3 Reflected light FTIR (Fourier transform spectroscopy) 3 Transmitted light EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis) 3 Ultraviolet fluorescence Microchemical analysis 3 Infrared reflectography False-colour infrared reflectography 3 X-ray 3 Stereomicroscopy Author of examination: Caroline von Saint-George Date: 11/2008 Author of brief report: Katja Lewerentz Date: 10/2002 Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

8 Fig. 1 Recto Fig. 2 Verso, with detail of the dealer s mark, on the sides of which the marks left by the edge of the stencil can be seen Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

9 Fig. 3 Raking light Fig. 4 Transmitted light Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

10 Fig. 5 UV fluorescence Fig. 6 X-ray Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

11 Fig. 7 Detail, signature, top microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm) Fig. 8 Detail, verso, remains of an original loose paper backing provided by the dealer Dubus (marked with white arrows); below, an example of an extant paper backing with dealer s mark on Gustave Caillebotte s painting Sailing Boat on the Seine, a study for Regattas at Argenteuil, 1893, private collection [Berhaut 1994, cat. no. 468] Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

12 Fig. 9 Detail of the turnover edge with holes presumably due to a possible provisional stretching (top left) and (top right) indication of the two-layer structure of the ground visible along its edge, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm) Fig. 10 Two-stage underdrawing, the first presumably in charcoal (top, white arrows mark the still extant charcoal particles) and then in paint applied with a brush (bottom), microscopic photographs (M = 1 mm) Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln

13 Fig. 11 Detail of the sailor in incident light (left) and transmitted light (right), the use of a scratching instrument (brush shaft?) is clearly discernible Fig. 12 Detail of the impasto paint application in the area of the reflection in the water under incident light (left) and raking light (right) Caroline von Saint-George, Katja Lewerentz: Gustave Caillebotte Sailing Boat on the Seine at Argenteuil, Research Project Painting Techniques of Impressionism and Postimpressionism, Online-Edition Köln