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signed Frits Thaulow l.r.

oil on canvas

We are grateful to Vidar Poulsson for confirming the authenticity of this work and for his assistance in its cataloguing.
EXHIBITED

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 1917, as Cours d'eau
CATALOGUE NOTE

Painted circa 1906.

Thaulow was Paul Gauguin's brother-in-law and a close friend of Claude Monet. His work shows clearly as it matures the influence of the French Impressionists and later the Post Impressionists, interpreted from a distinctly Nordic viewpoint. He often worked and exhibited in France, but regularly returned to Norway to paint.

Thaulow's celebrated winter scenes met with critical acclaim across Europe. In 1893 Georges Lafanestre wrote for La Revue des deux Mondes: 'One knows how much the painters of the Nordic countries excel in these studies of frozen water and snow, and it is a pleasure for us to see this year how the most able virtuoso in this field, Mr Frits Thaulow, employs his extraordinary skill of observation on the effects of winter, (...) the influence of the changing seasons (...) observed with an astonishing exactness and sensibility.'

Winter views, such as the present work, numbered among Thaulow's favourite subjects. Viewed through the prism of progressive French painting, Thaulow commented in an interview for the Verden Gang in January 1901: 'Look at these old, red buildings with the white snow and the black water. Nothing is as lovely as red and black. In the summer the red colour will be dull and the river will have no colour. It is the white snow which gives the colours their value'.

Thaulow's first snow scenes were in pastel, executed during the winter of 1888, when he and his wife stayed on the small isle of Stord on the western coast of Norway. These proved to be popular and there are at least three dated 89 and a few that were executed in subsequent years. Thaulow visited Norway again in the winter of 1905 and painted two winter scenes in oil. The first, called L'hiver en Norwège (54 by 65cm), was sold in these rooms on 19 June 1985, and the other Vidar Poulsson has confirmed to be the present painting.

Following Thaulow's death on 5 November 1906, a colour etching of the present work was published by the artist's dealer in Paris. Poulsson believes Thaulow planned to make the print himself, but notes that it may have been etched or finished by another hand.

The view in Cours d'eau allowed Thaulow not only to juxtapose strong colours to dramatic effect, but to explore the complex reflections in and upon the water. The red-bricked houses flank the river so closely that he was able to capture their reflection in the dark water below. This effect appears in a number of other works from around 1901 (fig. 1).

Fig. 1, Frits Thaulow, The Old Mill, Kristiana, sold: Sotheby's London, 7 April 2000, lot 48