GUILLAUMIN Armand (1841 / 1927)

Crozant, banks of the Sedelle.

Oil on canvas circa 1912, signed lower right.

65 x 54 cm

Certificate of authenticity from the Armand Guillaumin Committee dated December 3, 2025.

This painting will be reproduced in the second volume of the Catalogue Raisonné Armand Guillaumin currently being prepared by the Comité Guillaumin.
Table listed in the book dedicated to Armand Guillaumin by Mr Christopher Gray under reference Pl 194 page 202.

Armand Guillaumin was a French painter, lithographer and draftsman, born on February 16, 1841 in Paris, and died on June 26, 1927 in Orly.

He was one of the first and most faithful participants in the Impressionist group. His landscapes of the Creuse region, particularly those around Crozant, are among his most prized works.

Originally from Moulins, Armand Guillaumin moved to Paris in 1857 to work with his uncle Besnard. He attended evening classes with the sculptor Louis Denis Caillouette.

In 1860, he joined the Paris-Orléans Railway Company. The following year, he met Paul Cézanne and Camille Pissarro at the Swiss Academy and participated in the Salon des Refusés of 1863.

In the early 1870s, he painted in Pontoise with Pissarro. There he developed his taste for landscape painting. He executed his first etching at Dr. Gachet's studio in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1872; Guillaumin would produce seventeen more throughout his life, as well as several color lithographs. Joined by Cézanne, they painted along the banks of the Seine around 1873. Armand Guillaumin painted views of the Seine's banks, particularly of Ivry-sur-Seine, Clamart, and Charenton, as well as landscapes of Épinay-sur-Orge in the southern suburbs of Paris. These views demonstrate the artist's strong preference for water, a motif that would become one of his favorite subjects. At this time, Guillaumin was already using a palette with rather vibrant tones.

Armand Guillaumin remained loyal to the Impressionist group. He participated in six of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. In particular, he was present at the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874 and the last in 1886. A friend of Cézanne, he was also close to Van Gogh, who appreciated Guillaumin's talent as a colorist and his vibrant palette.

He married Marie-Josephine Gareton, a teacher at the Lycée Fénelon, originally from the Creuse region, in 1887. Edgar Degas and Paul Gauguin were his witnesses.

During the 1890s, his painting became more subjective. His highly expressive colours thus anticipated the Fauvists.

In 1891, he won two prizes in the National Lottery, one of 100,000 gold francs and another of 500,000, which allowed him to devote himself entirely to painting. From 1893 onward, he regularly rented a house in Crozant, where he frequented the painters of the Crozant School, near Fresselines, the home of the poet Maurice Rollinat. Drawing and painting from life, he was always drawn to water. From the banks of the Creuse River, he observed the activity of the river, the bridges, and the Chamil.

Armand Guillaumin also made many trips to Auvergne and brought back many landscapes, in particular views of Pontgibaud, Saint-Sauves and Saint-Julien-des-Chazes.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Armand Guillaumin shifted his focus towards a more precise style and a more vivid, almost violent, palette, which, as early as 1901, captivated the young Othon Friesz, who declared himself dazzled by the purples, ochres, and violets. He frequently visited the French Riviera, specifically Agay, where, alongside the painter Victor-Ferdinand Bourgeois, he created seascapes and mountain views of the Esterel Massif and the snow-capped Alps. Armand Guillaumin later retired to the Creuse region.

He died on June 26, 1927 in Orly, where he was buried in the old cemetery, leaving behind an important body of work from which emerged the paintings of the Impressionist period, then of Fauvist inspiration.

Works in public collections:

Germany, Cologne, Walraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud.

In Belgium: Museum of Fine Arts of Liège.

In the United States: Baltimore Museum of Art, Columbia Museum of Art, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

In France

Bayonne, Bonnat-Helleu Museum; Caen, Carcassonne Museum of Fine Arts; Châteauroux, Bertrand Museum; Clermont-Ferrand, Roger-Quilliot Art Museum, Unterlinden Museum; Dijon, Museum of Fine Arts; Évreux, Évreux Museum; Guéret, Museum of Art and Archaeology; Le Havre, André-Malraux Museum of Modern Art

Limoges, Limoges Museum of Fine Arts, Bishop's Palace.

Paris, Musée d'Orsay, Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Toulouse, Fondation Bemberg, Versailles, Musée Lambinet.

In the Nederlands

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum.

In Russia

Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum.

In Switzerland, the Petit Palais Museum in Geneva.

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