170 - 170. Léon Augustin Lhermitte (Mont-Saint-Père 1844-1925 Pari…

Estimate €18,000 - €22,000

Description

170. Léon Augustin Lhermitte (Mont-Saint-Père 1844-1925 Paris) Le bêcheur dedicated, signed and dated 'à Mlle C. Claudel / L. Lhermitte 1890' (lower right) pastel on paper laid on canvas 41,5 x 55.3cm (16 5/16 x 21 3/4in). Provenance Collection Alain Delon His sale Bonhams, Paris, 22 June 2023, lot 47 One of the foremost interpreters of rural life in nineteenth-century France, Léon Augustin Lhermitte achieved particular acclaim for his dignified representations of peasants at work, rendered with a combination of naturalism and profound empathy. Executed in 1890, the present pastel depicts one of the artist's favoured subjects, the labourer absorbed in the timeless act of cultivating the land. The broad handling and subtle modelling demonstrate Lhermitte's exceptional mastery of the pastel medium, which he employed with increasing confidence during the final decades of his career. The work is made especially noteworthy by its dedication to Camille Claudel (1864-1943), inscribed by the artist and dated 1890. Whether conceived as a gift or a token of professional esteem, the inscription places the pastel within the artistic milieu of Paris at a moment when Claudel was emerging as one of the most gifted sculptors of her generation. The dedication not only adds a compelling historical dimension to the work but also provides a rare connection between two remarkable figures of French artistic life at the close of the nineteenth century. At the time of the Bonhams sale, Brame & Lorenceau confirmed the authenticity of the present work and stated that it would be included in the forthcoming supplement to the artist's catalogue raisonné.

About the sale Old Master and 19th Century Paintings

Auction location

Auction time 11/04/2026 at 1:00 PM

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