Henri-Edmond Cross
French, 1856–1910
Unbound, twenty-two pages of off-white wove paper
16.2 x 12.3 cm
Gift of May Sarton
1964.15
Henri-Edmond Cross befriended the neo-impressionist painters Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in the 1880s, but did not adopt their divisionist style until 1891. He spent the winters of 1883 through 1891 in the south of France, settling there permanently in 1891. Enchanted by the area, he described his response in a letter to Signac: "Hills with pines and cork-oaks melt slowly into the sea. . . . Charming and intimate nooks swarm next to magical and picturesque views. Yes, these two terms are the most accurate to describe the sensations I have experienced here until now."(1)Françoise Baligand et al, Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910) (Paris, 1998), 30, note 9.
This sketchbook allows us to follow the artist's wanderings along the French Riviera, through Juan-les-Pins, Agay, St. Tropez, and the adjacent hills. It contains watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, and black ink studies of plants, figures, and landscapes—especially views of bays along the Mediterranean, and hills with pines. Color notations serve as prompts for the artist's visual memory, while notes on neo-impressionist theories, literature, and politics provide an insight into his preoccupations.
Unlike the laborious effort required to produce paintings in the divisionist style, in which the paint was applied in small strokes or dots, Cross found watercolor and colored pencils to be the perfect media for capturing fleeting effects. He feverishly recorded the beauty around him in the French countryside: "Oh! What I saw in a split second while riding my bike tonight! I just had to jot down these fleeting things . . . a rapid notation in watercolor and pencil: an informal daubing of contrasting colors, tones, and hues, all packed with information to make a lovely watercolor the next day in the quiet leisure of the studio."(2)Isabelle Compin, H. E. Cross (Paris, 1964), 69 (note 2).
The sketchbook came to the Fogg Art Museum as a loose collection of folded pages, with no cover. The consistency of the paper and media indicates that they were all part of the same sketchbook. The present order of the pages was determined by close examination in the Fogg’s paper conservation lab, taking into account the size and edges of the sheets, the position and size of the sewing holes, and the offsetting of media onto adjacent pages.
This unbound sketchbook is one of three given to the Fogg by the poet May Sarton, who received them from Cross’s friend Marie Closset. Two are from 1897; the third is undated; all are similar in size, media, and scope.
1. Françoise Baligand et al, Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910) (Paris, 1998), 30, note 9.