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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1964.15.16
People
Henri-Edmond Cross, French (Douai, France 1856 - 1910 Saint-Clair, France)
Title
Studies of a Landscape, a Female Head, and a Cellist; verso: blank page
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
sketchbook page, drawing
Date
1897
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/6977

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
16.3 x 12.1 cm (6 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • (not assigned): Recto, graphite, in arist's hand: … Et nous bâtirons la maison / joyeuse et nous élèverons la / cité nouvelle… (A. France) / Vigania [crossed out] / ficus / Pittosporum - Pittosporées - chine

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Marie Closset (pen name Jean Dominique), gift to May Sarton. given to May Sarton before Closset's death in 1952
May Sarton, gift to Fogg Art Museum, 1964.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of May Sarton
Accession Year
1964
Object Number
1964.15.16
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
The words that Cross ascribes to the French writer Anatole France (Jacques Anatole François Thibault, 1844-1924) refer to contemporary utopian ideas about a future society. Cross had affinity with these ideas. With others in the Neo-Impressionist circle like Signac, Pissarro, and Luce he supported the anarchism of Jean Grave (1854-1939) by providing illustrations for Grave's "Les Temps nouveaux," which spread the ideas of Pierre Kropotkin (1842-1921). They dreamt of a so-called Golden Age that would become reality after the destruction of the bourgeois society. Cross visualised this golden age in paintings of sunbathed, harmonious gatherings at the waterside.

Interestingly enough, Cross's friend the painter Paul Signac called the Brussels house that he moved into in 1897 the "joyous house" and the "city of the future." Signac and Cross spent much time together in 1897, so Cross's note might be directly related to his friend's remark.

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu