Jules DUPRÉ (1885-1941), The Cliffs of Le Crotoy

Jules DUPRÉ (1885-1941)

The cliffs of Le Crotoy

Oil on canvas

37 x 45cm

Circa 1865

Our painting, Les falaises du Crotoy (The cliffs of Crotoy), painted around 1865, is part of the corpus of paintings produced by Dupré in the vicinity of his Cayeux-sur-mer residence. The artist, who appreciated views of the coast and the sea, painted a series of seascapes inspired by Gustave Courbet, and stayed there in 1868 accompanied by Jean François Millet. He painted several works in Le Crotoy, including Une rue du Crotoy circa 1865-1870, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Reims, as well as another view of the coast with mills, but from a different point of view, entitled Le Crotoy and preserved by the Mesdag Collection.
Jules Dupré's interest in painting undoubtedly stemmed from the fact that he was introduced to the art from an early age. His father, François Dupré, owner of several earthenware factories in Creil and Limoges, taught his son the many techniques of porcelain manufacture and decoration at an early age. However, attracted by nature, Jules Dupré soon abandoned plates, preferring to depict the countryside around Fontainebleau and Isle-Adam. In 1830, at just 20 years of age, he painted "le plateau de Belle-croix", a view of the Fontainebleau forest, which demonstrated his talent in this field.
A great admirer of Dutch and English painting, it was only logical that Dupré made several trips to England to study John Constable (1776-1837). This artist's passion for tormented skies and the importance of white and gray in his work deeply inspired Dupré's own, and is strongly reflected in our own.
It was in 1835, on his return from one of these voyages, that he attracted attention with a landscape of "Southampton View". While the influence of Dutch art is felt, it is above all his innate talent for landscape that is recognized.
Between several trips, Dupré frequented the Barbizon school, where a shared desire to represent landscapes in a realistic and philosophical light brought him closer to other Barbizon painters, including Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867). The invention of the gouache tube in 1841 and the development of the railroads enabled them to apply this new approach to nature. They could now easily travel to the forests of Fontainebleau, set up their easels wherever they wished and paint en plein air. In this way, Dupré's work, and ours in particular, depicts a realistic, real-life nature.
Considered a great colorist, perhaps even more so than Corot and Daubigny, Dupré's talent was recognized by many artists. Van Gogh (1853-1890), in his correspondence from 1874 to 1886, was fervent in his praise. He described him as "Delacroix's brother" in landscape painting, and said of him: "I have always been enthusiastic about Jules Dupré; in time, his value will be even more appreciated than it is today. In this sense, Jules Dupré was one of the precursors of Impressionism, and in turn influenced Dutch painting. Indeed, the Barbizon School profoundly inspired the Hague School (1870-1920), and the works of artists such as Paul Gabriël (1828-1903) undoubtedly mirror those of Jules Dupré or Théodore Rousseau.

Provenance :

- Sale Mr. L. R...te A... sale, October 8, 1900, lot no. 17, Munich
- Goldschimdt sale, April 26, 1910, Munich
- English art market (Christie's 1970)
- French private collection