FR EN
1 / 6
an image of a painting of a boat in a body of wateran image of a painting of a boat in a body of wateran image of a painting of a boat in a body of watera picture of a piece of paper with a brown backgroundan old picture of a brown frame with a label on ita white sculpture in a room with a painting on the wall
Premium Artcurial

Estimate €40,000 - €60,000
Sale commission
Description
Charles LACOSTE Evening of Departure, ‘Red-gold twilight. Orsay station. Black boats’ – 1902 Oil on cardboard Signed and dated lower right ‘Charles Lacoste /1902’ 64.5 x 54 cm Provenance: Gifted by the artist to Gabriel Frizeau (1870–1938), a Bordeaux winegrower and collector (January 1908, exchanged for another painting by the artist) Auction, Paris, Claude Robert, 9 October 1972, lot 58 Caubet Collection (probably around 1973) Hubert Duchemin Gallery, Paris Acquired from the gallery by the current owner on 17 June 2013 Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection Exhibitions: Paris, Cours-la-Reine, Salon des Indépendants, April 1903, no. 1343, p. 73 Paris, Galerie Druet, Charles Lacoste Exhibition, January 1905, no. 68 Brussels, Salon de la Libre Esthétique, March 1907, no. 118, p. 32 Paris, Grand Palais, ‘Around Levy-Dhurmer: Visionaries and Intimists’, March–April 1973, no. 24, reproduced in black and white on pp. 28–29 Paris, Town Hall of the 16th arrondissement, Paris, Beauvais, Oise Departmental Museum, Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Charles Lacoste: 1870–1959: 60 Years of Painting between Symbolism and Naturalism, April–November 1985, no. 47, reproduced in black and white on p. 113 Bibliography: F. Chappey, *Works of Charles Lacoste, 1870–1959*, Master’s thesis, Paris X Nanterre, 1981, 2 vols., p. 142, no. 433, reproduced as no. 559 Oil on cardboard; signed and dated lower right; 25 3/8 x 21 1/4 in. At the turn of the century, following Charles Lacoste’s move to Paris in 1899, his painting style evolved towards a more precise brushstroke. In this painting, executed in 1902, the artist depicts one of his favourite subjects: urban architecture near a river. It is no longer the Garonne, but the Seine, as indicated by the subtitle of *Soir de Partance*: ‘Crimson twilight. Orsay station. Black boats’. The composition, with its precise geometric lines, is divided into two horizontal sections. The highly stylised architecture of the station is illuminated by the incandescent light of the setting sun, whose fiery reflections glide across the dark, still waters in the foreground. A continuous procession of tiny silhouettes – a recurring motif in Lacoste’s work – moves along the quays. At the foot of the quays, boats blend almost entirely into the background, with only their upright masts emerging. In the distance, the Parisian rooftops resemble dark, wooded hills – slate-grey-blue masses – lending the work a strange, almost fantastical atmosphere, accentuated by the play of light in a flamboyant twilight. True to his style, Lacoste transforms forms to retain only the essential; poetry and atmosphere thus take precedence over literal description. Charles LACOSTE 64.5 x 54 cm At the turn of the century, having moved to Paris in 1899, Charles Lacoste’s painting style evolved towards a more precise brushstroke. In this painting from 1902, the artist depicts one of his favourite subjects: urban architecture by a river. It is no longer the River Garonne but the River Seine, as indicated in the subtitle of *Soir de Partance: Crépuscule d’Or Rouge. Gare d’Orsay. Bateaux Noirs*. The composition, with its precise geometric lines, is divided into two horizontal sections. The highly stylised architecture of the railway station is illuminated by the incandescent light of the setting sun, whose fiery reflections glide across the dark, still waters in the foreground. A continuous procession of tiny figures – a recurring theme in Lacoste’s work – moves along the quay. At the water’s edge, boats blend almost entirely into the background, from which only their masts emerge. In the distance, the Parisian rooftops resemble dark, wooded hills, masses of slate-grey and blue, lending the work a strange, almost fantastical atmosphere, accentuated by the luminosity of a flamboyant twilight. True to his style, Lacoste transforms his subject to retain only the essential; poetry and atmosphere thus take precedence over literal description.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale The Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 4:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like