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Samedi or Le Fumeur signed lower left Willy Finch oil on canvas 179 x 114.5 cm Executed circa 1885 PROVENANCE Gustave Kfer, Brussels Jean Renard, Brussels Anon. Sale, Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels, 7 December 1925, lot 4 Anon. Sale, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 6 November 1950, lot 27 LITERATURE Victor Reding, 'Le salon des XX' in La Fdration Artistique, 1885, no. 18, pp. 137-140 D. Derrey-Capon a.o., A.W. Finch 1854-1930, Brussels 1992, p. 165 (ill.) EXHIBITION Brussels, Les XX, 1885, cat.no. 6 Helsinki, Finnish National Museum, Exhibition of French and Belgian artists, 1904, cat.no. 26 Brussels, Tzwern-Aisinber Fine Arts, Le cercle des XX, 10 May-24 June 1989, cat.no. 25, p. 58 (ill.) (with wrong measurements) NOTES The present lot, depicting a farmer lighting his pipe, is one of the rare examples of Finch's oeuvre showing human figures. The artist, born of British parents in Belgium in 1854, enrolled in the Brussels Academy in 1878, where he became close friends with James Ensor. "The composition and color scheme of Samedi are reminiscent of Ensor's work of the early 1880's and point to the influence of this artist on Finch's early development. Like Ensor's The Lampist, Finch gives monumental treatment to a peasant whose identity is evidenced by the massive sabots on his feet. (..) In this simple and direct manner, Finch presents to the viewer the leisure time of the peasant class.(..) While Finch's stark, non-anecdotal approach reveals the social message of this painting, the artist is equally concerned with light and atmospheric effect as he contrasts the bright light that illuminates the man's face and shoulder with the dark background. Like Ensor, Finch uses a short, even brushstroke that builds the figure into a solid three dimensional mass. At the same time Finch employs a somber palette to further underscore the bleakness of the peasant's lot and the seriousness of his subject". ( Le cercle des XX, Brussels 1989, op.cit. ) Victor Reding writes in 1885 about Samedi : "Sous le titre Samedi, Finch expose un ouvrier allumant son brle-gueule, debout devant un verre de faro - un de ces bons verres du temps o ils contenaient encore un demi-litre. Mais pourquoi Samedi? Ne voit-on pas tous les jours, un ouvrier boire un verre de faro et fumer un pipe? Ledit ouvrier est vaguement bross sur un fond sale, dans une note sale. Sa place est marque, il est camp; il s'agit maintenant de le fixer et le caractriser. C'est le moment pour Finch de passer chez Raffalli.[..] En somme, ce que me parat tre le plus louable chez M. Finch, c'est son dsir de bien faire, son intention visible d'tre intressant. Le choix de ses sujets ne manque d'ailleurs, ni de pittoresque, ni de caractre" (Victor Reding, op.cit, 1885). The importance of this painting around 1904, when it was exhibited in Finland, can be gathered from the demand price of 2.000 Frs. during that exhibition. The pointillist paintings in the same exhibition, La route de Nieuport from 1888 (sold in these rooms on 2 December 1997, lot 315, for Nlg. 460.000) and Champs de course from 1888 were offered respectively for 500 Frs. and 400 Frs. To be included in the catalogue raisonn on the artist's work, currently being prepared by the Belgian Art Research Institute.