Stamped lower right: F. du. Puigaudeau

Sale: Guerpillon-Bergeron, Quimper, France, June 14, 1998; Sale: Guignard, Lorient, France, March 20, 1999; Sotheby's, New York, February 21, 2002, lot 37; Private collection, acquired from the above.

Ferdinand du Puigaudeau (French, 1864-1930) Clair de lune sur Kervaudu Oil on canvas 25-3/4 x 32 inches (65.4 x 81.3 cm) Stamped lower right: F. du. Puigaudeau PROVENANCE: Sale: Guerpillon-Bergeron, Quimper, France, June 14, 1998; Sale: Guignard, Lorient, France, March 20, 1999; Sotheby's, New York, February 21, 2002, lot 37; Private collection, acquired from the above. LITERATURE: A. Laurentin, Ferdinand du Puigaudeau (1864-1930): Catalogue raisonné des peintures, vol. II, Paris, 2023, p. 109, no. II-101. Kervaudu, a moody late-15th-century manor in le Croisic, Brittany, became the home of Post-Impressionist painter Ferdinand Loyen du Puigaudeau from 1907 until his death in 1930. Designated a National Historic Monument in 1921, it was built by one of the local Breton nobles, in whose family it remained until the French Revolution when it was seized by the State and eventually sold. For Puigaudeau, Kervaudu was an enduring symbol of rich Breton history, and it figured prominently in his colorful paintings which reveal powerful influences from his close artistic associates, the Nabis ("prophet" in Hebrew). He formed fast relationships with Gauguin, Degas, Rysselberghe, Ensor, and Bernard. Puigaudeau's use of intense flat plates of color, a dappled effect akin to pointillism, strong sinuous rhythms, and dramatic light effects in the sky combine to give his paintings of Kervaudu a Symbolist, otherworldly quality. Degas affectionately dubbed Puigaudeau "the Hermit of Kervaudu." HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

Unlined canvas. Stretcher bar marks faintly visible at upper and right edges and vertically at center under raking light. Extremely minor buckling to canvas in upper right corner, visible under raking light. Faint craquelure. Minor pigment separation beneath the moon. Not examined out of frame due to size. Under UV: varnish fluoresces green. A few small areas of brushy retouching at edges. A very few additional scattered small dots of retouching and apparent strengthening in the middle ground. Framed Dimensions 35.25 X 41 X 3.5 Inches