A view of Cap d'Antibes circa 1880 by the Barbizon School painter, Henri Joseph Harpignies. A bright, contrasting painting with an impressionist touch.
 
Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 46 x 38 cm
With frame: 68 x 57 cm
 
Cap d'Antibes, Mediterranean coast.
Henri Joseph Harpignies made many trips to Antibes on the Mediterranean coast and depicted this exceptional landscape on several occasions; a region where everything is immutable: sun, light, evergreen trees.
His views of the Côte d'Azur, in which a search for luminosity shines through and in which a great freedom of execution is affirmed, are among his most successful works. From 1878, Harpignies divided his time between the Côte d'Azur in winter and Saint-Privé during the summer.
 
A shot through the trees.
Like Paul Cézanne's L'Estaque seen through the pines, it is through the foliage of two trees, his favourite subject, that we discover the Cap d'Antibes, the shimmering sea, the old town, the square fort and the Mercantour mountains in the distance.
As if through a curtain of greenery, the painter perfectly captured the beauty of the place and its particular light. 
 
Biography
"the Michelangelo of trees and peaceful countrysides" Anatole France
Henri Joseph Harpignies, born in Valenciennes (Nord) and died in Saint-Privé (Yonne), was a French landscape painter, watercolourist and engraver from the Barbizon School.
Edmond Bénard, Henri Harpignies in his studio, New York, Frick Collection.
Henri Joseph Harpignies' parents intended him for a commercial career, but his determination to become a painter led them to allow him to enter Jean Achard's studio in Paris in 1846. After two years of training, he left to travel in Italy.
Back in France in 1850, Henri Harpignies devoted himself to children's bambochades in a landscape setting and joined Corot and the Barbizon School, whose influence he was influenced by. The two artists became friends and travelled together to Italy in 1860.
In 1859, he collaborated on the decoration of the staff room of the Charité hospital in Paris, partially rebuilt at the Musée de l'Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris.
On his return from Italy in 1861, he achieved his first success at the Salon. He then exhibited regularly at the Salon. In 1866, he received his first medal for Le Soir dans la campagne de Rome, acquired by the State.
During his very long career, Henri Harpignies painted a large number of works in Hérisson in the Bourbonnais, as well as in the Nivernais and in Auvergne. He produced decorative works for the Paris Opera, including the panel of Val d'Égrie, which he exhibited at the Salon in 1870. He was a friend of Léon Bonnat who painted his portrait twice in 1889 (Museum of Fine Arts in Valenciennes and Petit Palais in Paris).
He painted the stained glass windows of the Château de Trousse-Barrière in Briare in 1895. In 1898, he was named Honorary Rosati.
He will be rewarded many times.
Medals at the Paris Salon in 1866, 1868 and 1869, then he became hors-competition. Second class medal (silver) at the Universal Exhibition of 1878. Medal of Honor in 1897 for Solitude and Bords du Rhône.
In 1875, he was named a knight, then promoted to officer (1883), raised to the rank of commander (1901) then grand officer (1911) of the national order of the Legion of Honor.
He is buried in the cemetery of Saint-Privé (Yonne).
 
Bibliography
• Bénézit Dictionary.
• Dictionary of French landscape painters XIXth- L Harembourg
• La France illustrée, no. 1176, June 12, 1897, p. 24.
• Society of French Artists, Explanation of works of painting, sculpture, architecture, etc., Salon of 1897.
• Henri Harpignies 1819 1916. Painting nature, [exhibition catalogue], Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, Loire Museum, 2016, 51 p.
• Elric (drawing) and François Darnaudet (screenplay), Harpignies, Paquet, 2014.
 
Museums
France
 • Paris, The Louvre; Petit Palais
 • Lille, Palace of Fine Arts: View taken at Moncel-sur-Seille (Meurthe-et-Moselle), around 1868
USA
 • New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Landscape with a city in the distance
 • Tulsa, Philbrook Museum of Art: Railway bridge over the Briare.
 • Washington, National Gallery of Art: Landscape in Auvergne.
Canada
 • Montreal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: Moonlight (1889)
  • Quebec, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec: Landscape
Argentina
 • Buenos Aires, National Museum of Fine Arts: The Briare Canal.