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Charles Angrand was
born in Normandy in the town of Criquet-Sur-Ouville. He
was the son of a country school teacher and attended the
School of Fine Arts in Rouen, following which he made a
living giving art lessons. In 1882 he moved to Paris and
became friends with a number of painters who were to
form the Post Impressionism art movement. These friends
included such well known painters such as Maximillien
Luce, George Seurat and Paul Signac. The circle also
included Van Gogh and correspondence has been found
between him and Charles Angrand.
It is impossible to understand Charles Angrand's
paintings without having some grasp of what Neo
Impressionism means and its role in art history. It was
first introduced by his friend the painter George Seurat
who was motivated and inspired by contemporary writings
on colour theory by such scientific writers as Henry
Chevreul.
The Neo Impressionists rejected the spontaneity of
Impressionism and sought to impose order on the visual
experience of a painting. They did this by the precise
application of dots of paint. They believed that
painting in this way set up vibrations of coloured light
that produced an optical purity. The technique is often
also referred to as Pointillism.
Hayricks in Normandy One of the icons of Neo Impressionism is
said to be the painting by George Seurat entitled
‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’
which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. It is said
his friend Charles Angrand helped with the preparation
for this painting which can be seen as symbolizing the
whole movement. In another of George Seurat's paintings,
‘The Circus’ Charles Angrand is featured and one need
only look to the figure in the first row with the silk
hat to see Seurat's portrayal of his friend.
Charles Angrand was one of the artists who founded the
Salon des Independents. Disappointed with the annual
Salon in Paris they decided to start their own.
One of the purposes of the Neo Impressionists was to
celebrate modern life and their paintings described the
world around them, depicting such things as contemporary
leisure activities and urban landscapes. Charles Angrand
was said to be a successful exponent of the school of
Neo Impressionism as he achieved a stunning modernity in
his paintings. This school of painting quickly spread to
other countries such as Belgium, Holland and Germany.
Neo Impressionism only flourished between the dates of
1886 and 1906. However, in 1891, George Seurat the
founding father of this school and one of Angrand’s
closest friends died at the tragically young age of 31.
Charles was grief stricken at the loss of his friend and
left Paris to return to Normandy where he led a solitary
life and for a while he even stopped painting.
He had also been an Anarchist like his friend Paul
Signac and back in Normandy he used his money to finance
an Anarchist publication, as well as providing
illustrations for it.
Dans la Rue
Any paintings by artists who formed the founding circle
of Neo Impressionism are worth an enormous amount of
money. In 1998 a painting by Charles Angrand entitled
‘La seine a Courbevoie, La Grande Jatte’ sold in
Sotheby’s in London for £440,000, nearly one million
dollars. Works by Charles Angrand and his circle of
friends are worth a great deal of money, so if you
inherit a nineteenth century painting which seems to be
made up tiny dots make sure you get in touch with an art
expert straight away to have it valued, it could be
worth a fortune.
We appraise, authenticate and issue certificates of
authenticity for works by Charles Angrand. |
