"Vigilance - Meditation"

VIGILANCE - COLLECTION

Follower of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for the decoration of the villa of St Jean Cap Ferrat property of Léopold II king of Belgium (1835-1909).

Oils on canvas around 1900, original frame with symbolist decor.

Dimensions without frame: Height 261 cm x Width 94 cm.
Dimensions with frame: Height 383 cm x Width 142 cm.

Excellent state of conservation given that the fabrics were incorporated into elements of woodwork.

“For the Symbolists, the world cannot be limited to a concrete appearance that can be reduced to rational knowledge. »Paul Claudel.

Puvis de Chavannes, the Symbolist school, Victor Koos:

Pierre Cécile Puvis de Chavannes (1824 - 1898) was extremely successful, a pupil of Théodore Chassériau and Ary Scheffer, he was one of the forerunners of the Symbolist school, he received important public commissions for large frescoes which he realized with the help of his workshop:

- Paris city hall

- Saint Geneviève Church today "the Pantheon",

- Decor of the Sorbonne amphitheater in Paris,

- Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.

This artistic movement is a precursor of the Nabis school and inspired the whole next generation.

Victor Koos (1864-1925) was the most faithful disciple of Puvis de Chavannes, he granted him a life annuity in appreciation of his services, Victor Koos completed unfinished work after the death of Puvis de Chavannes in 1898.

Origin:

Leopold II king of Belgium (1835-1909) lover of art and worldliness built the royal museum of fine arts of Brussels in 1890 and the museum of art and history, he bequeathed to this museum in the early 1900s a large collection of drawings and sketches of stone Puvis de Chavannes which he had acquired from the painter in his studio on rue Pigalle in Paris or from the Durand Ruel gallery for which Puvis de Chavannes produced numerous canvases, drawings and reduction of his frescoes which the art market was particularly fond of American and European.

Our 2 large canvases were ordered around 1900. They are attributable to Victor Koos faithful disciple who perpetuated the work of Puvis de Chavannes by completing the work being ordered: the frescoes in the pantheon (upper part of the pediment) until the beginning of the 1st world war.

These two works were installed to decorate the villa of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, this villa is one of the most beautiful on the Riviera with its 14 hectares of park overlooking the bay of Monaco, it was bought by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1904 in honor of Blanche Zélie Joséphine Delacroix his friend whom he married a few years before her death and who was his great love.