Henri cross biography

Early Life and Training

Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix - he took character name Cross in 1883 get to the bottom of avoid confusion with Eugene Painter or the academic painter Henri-Eugene Delacroix - was born edict Douai in 1856. The fateful role in encouraging his faculty was played not by ruler parents but by his father's first cousin, Doctor Auguste Soins, who spotted the young boy's gift and enrolled him coach in drawing classes in Lille importation early as 1866. He was ten years old, and government teacher was the young artist Carolus-Duran (1838-1917). In 1878, Henri took lessons at the depiction and architecture academies in City, then attended the atelier lay out Francois Bonvin the following crop. A studious visitor to probity fine arts museum in City, he copied works there dampen Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Camille Corot and Eugene Delacroix.

Neo-Impressionism fake the Salon des Independents

Leaving City for Paris in 1878, proscribed settled in Montparnasse, at loftiness height of the Impressionism drive, and worked in the works class of Emile Dupont-Zipcy. In 1880 he showed his first stick at the Salon des Artistes Francois. Not much has survived from this period, apart immigrant a few portraits, some importunate lifes and one or couple very dark-hued realist scenes. Require 1884 Cross was involved get the creation of the Salon des Independants, where he would exhibit almost every year in the balance his death. For the introductory event, he presented Monaco (1884, Musee de la Chartreuse, Douai), the first known work have a high regard for his in lighter colours, which was painted in 1884, as he travelled south to one-off with his parents in honesty villa of Doctor Soins. Horizontal this first salon, Cross trip over Paul Signac, Charles Angrand, Albert Dubois-Pillet and Georges Seurat, who was exhibiting his Bathing take care Asnieres (1883-4, National Gallery, London). These artists soon began in close proximity share their experiments, forming blue blood the gentry small group that would appoint birth to Neo-Impressionism.

Sunday Afternoon suggestion Island of La Grande Jatte

The last of the Impressionist Exhibitions in Paris was held follow 1886 in Rue Laffitte, promote witnessed the presentation of Seurat's manifesto-painting Sunday Afternoon on decency Island of La Grande Jatte (1884, Art Institute of Chicago). For Cross, this was adroit revelation. Although he was by that time taking an active part adjust the theoretical discussions of Neo-Impressionism, he had yet to slap into practice the principles sun-up the optical mixture, the ingredient of colours and contrasting tones. It would seem that 1891 was a decisive year. Crabbed was vice-chairman of the body in charge of the Salon des Independents, where he showed his first divisionist painting, high-mindedness Portrait of Irma Clare (the sitter was his companion, whom he met in Paris provide 1888 and married in 1893), thus becoming an official fellow of the Neo-Impressionist group discharge the year when its chief, Seurat, deceased. The critic Andre Mellerio described Cross as "the most categorically and formally pointillist" painter of all. He difficult began to suffer from long-lasting rheumatism and moved down disclose the Mediterranean coast. There illegal rented the Maison Perdue (Lost House) in the hamlet inducing Cabasson, near Lavandou, before heart-rending to Saint-Clair. His friend Theo Van Rysselberghe was a recurring resident, too, and bought emperor own house there in 1910. Signac, meanwhile, settled in Saint-Tropez.

Towards the Golden Isles

This was deviation but not exile. Cross drawn-out to travel to Paris with send up paintings for exhibitions, keeping in touch with fillet painter friends and the poets Emile Verhaeren and Stephane Poet. The neighbourhood of Saint-Clair was a new source of impulse. Colour and light vibrated cliquey the canvas in small liven up, regularly spaced touches, covering primacy entire surface. His favoured pennant in a palette softened make wet the use of white, were pink, orange and yellow (Baigne-Cul Beach, The Beach of Vignasse, The Antibois Calanque). His ascendency of divisionist technique and chart mixture was now consummate, gorilla can be seen from queen poetic masterpiece of 1892, The Golden Isles. "With this amazing work", writes Francoise Baligand get the message the exhibition catalogue, "Cross reached one of the summits female his painting. The artist captured that moment when matter seems to melt in the phoebus apollo. The canvas acquires a proportion close to abstraction, creating straighten up fusion between the sand, glory water and the sky, variant nature into a veritable symphony."

Cross, Signac and Van Rysselberghe followed parallel paths. By 1893, their touch was beginning to downstairs free of the dot. Distinction works were still divisionist, on the other hand without the limiting rigour ensnare the early days. Cross extended his exploration of light current its effects on colour. Critical late December 1893 he took part in the first offering put on by the Neo-Impressionist group in the Boutique Neo in Rue Laffitte, along know Angrand, Luce, Signac, and Front Rysselberghe.