At the Fair

Artist Henri Edmond Cross (French, 1856-1910)

Place of OriginFrance

Date1896

DimensionsPainting: H: 36 3/8 in. (92 cm); W: 25 3/4 in. (65.4 cm)
Frame: H: 45 5/8 in. (115.9 cm); W: 35 1/8 in. (89.2 cm); D: 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1951.308

Not on View

Label TextFull of color and activity, this lively image depicts a village seaside dance in the region of Var, the French district on the Mediterranean coast where artist Henri Edmond Cross lived. Cross was a devotee of artist Georges Seurat’s Neo-Impressionist painting style. Adapting Seurat’s technique of constructing his images with dots of paint placed side-by-side, Cross developed a broader application of segmented brushstrokes, isolating each hue. The dashes of vibrant pinks and blues in At the Fair, highlighted by warm yellows, create shimmering effects of light and movement.Published ReferencesSignac, P., "What Neo-Impressionism Means," Art News, LII, Dec. 1953, repr. p. 31.

Compin, I., H. E. Cross, Paris, 1964, pp. 42, 78, 144, no. 55, repr. p. 145.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 46, pl. 281.

Bock, Catherine C., Henri Matisse and Neo-Impressionism 1898-1908, Ann Arbor, MI, 1981, p. 27, repr. pl. 15.

Serri, Jérôme, Bleu, blanc, rouge: les couleurs de la France dans la peinture française, n.p. Lib. Séguier 1989, repr. p. 29 (col.).

Exhibition HistoryParis, Société des artistes indépendants, 1896, no. 249.

Paris, Galerie Druet, Peintures et aquarelles de H.E. Cross et P. Signac, 1911, no. 1,

Kristiania (Oslo), Den Franske Utstilling i Kunstnerforbundet, 1916.

New York, Wildenstein, Seurat and his Friends, 1953, no. 60, repr. p. 15 (cat. by J. Rewald).

Portland (ME) Museum of Art, Neo-Impressionism: Artists on the Edge, 2002, p. 74, fig. 44 (col.).

Flint Institute of Arts, Flint MI. Landscapes from the Ages of Impressionism2010

Potsdam, Germany, Museum Barberni, Color and Light: The Neo-Impressionist Henri-Edmond Cross, Nov. 17, 2018-Feb. 17, 2019.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Impressionist and Modern Drawings and Watercolors, London, Sotheby sale, June 26, 1985, lot 330, repr.