Charles Angrand | |
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 Self-Portrait, 1892 Conté crayon on laid paper, 62.2 x 46 cm | |
| Born | Charles Théophile Angrand (1854-04-19)19 April 1854 Criquetot-sur-Ouville,Normandy, France |
| Died | 1 April 1926(1926-04-01) (aged 71) Rouen, France |
| Education | Académie de Peinture et de Dessin, Rouen |
| Known for | Painting,drawing |
| Movement | Impressionism,Neo-Impressionism (Pointillism) |
Charles Angrand (French pronunciation:[ʃaʁlɑ̃ɡʁɑ̃]; 19 April 1854 – 1 April 1926) was a French artist who gained renown for hisNeo-Impressionist paintings and drawings. He was an important member of the Parisian avant-garde art scene in the late 1880s and early 1890s.
Charles Théophile Angrand was born inCriquetot-sur-Ouville,Normandy, France, to schoolmaster Charles P. Angrand (1829–96) and his wife Marie (1833–1905).[1]
He received artistic training inRouen at Académie de Peinture et de Dessin.[2] His first visit to Paris was in 1875, to see aretrospective of the work ofJean-Baptiste-Camille Corot atÉcole des Beaux-Arts.[1] Corot was an influence on Angrand's early work.[3]
After being denied entry into École des Beaux-Arts, he moved to Paris in 1882, where he began teaching mathematics atCollège Chaptal.[4] His living quarters were near Café d'Athènes,Café Guerbois,Le Chat Noir, and other establishments frequented by artists. Angrand joined the artistic world of the Parisianavant-garde,[5] becoming friends with influential members includingGeorges Seurat,Vincent van Gogh,[5]Paul Signac,Maximilien Luce, andHenri-Edmond Cross.[3] His avant-garde artistic and literary contacts influenced him, and in 1884 he co-foundedSociété des Artistes Indépendants, along with Seurat, Signac,Odilon Redon, and others.
Angrand'sImpressionist paintings of the early 1880s, generally depicting rural subjects and containing broken brushstrokes and light-filled colouration, reflect the influences ofClaude Monet,Camille Pissarro,[4] andJules Bastien-Lepage.[2] Through his interactions with Seurat, Signac, and others in the mid-1880s, his style evolved towardsNeo-Impressionism.[4] From 1887 his paintings were Neo-Impressionist and his drawings incorporated Seurat'stenebrist style. Angrand had the "ability to distil poetry from the most banal suburban scene".[2] In 1887 he met van Gogh,[4] who proposed a painting exchange (which ultimately did not happen).[6] Van Gogh was influenced by Angrand's thick brushstrokes and Japanese-inspired compositional asymmetry.[7] Also in 1887,L'Accident, his firstDivisionist painting, was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. Angrand joined Seurat inplein air painting onLa Grande Jatte island.[5]
Angrand's implementation of Pointillist techniques differed from that of some of its leading proponents. He painted with a more muted palette than Seurat and Signac, who used bright contrasting colours. As seen inCouple in the street, Angrand used dots of various colours to enhance shadows and provide the proper tone, while avoiding the violent colouration found in many other Neo-Impressionist works. His monochromeconté crayon drawings such as his self-portrait above, which also demonstrate his delicate handling of light and shadow,[8] were assessed by Signac: "... his drawings are masterpieces. It would be impossible to imagine a better use of white and black ... These are the most beautiful drawings, poems of light, of fine composition and execution."[9]
Angrand exhibited his work in Paris at Les Indépendants, Galerie Druet, GalérieDurand-Ruel, andBernheim-Jeune, and also in Rouen. His work appeared inBrussels in an 1891 show withLes XX.[4] In the early 1890s, he abandoned painting, instead creating conté drawings andpastels[4] of subjects including rural scenes and depictions of mother and child, realized in darkSymbolist intensity. During this period, he also drew illustrations foranarchist publications such asLes Temps nouveaux;[2] other Neo-Impressionists contributing to these publications included Signac, Luce, andThéo van Rysselberghe.[10]
In 1896 he moved toSaint-Laurent-en-Caux, inUpper Normandy.[4] He began painting again around 1906, emulating the styles and colours of Signac and Cross.[11] Angrand developed his own unique methods of Divisionism, with larger brushstrokes. As this resulted in rougher optical blending than small dots, he compensated by using more intense colours.[12] Some of his landscapes from this period are almostnonrepresentational.[11] Before World War I, he lived for a year inDieppe. Then he moved back to Rouen, living there for the rest of his life. He was very reclusive for his last thirty years, but remained a dedicated correspondent.[4] Angrand died in Rouen on 1 April 1926. He is buried inCimetière monumental de Rouen.[13]
Angrand's work is in many museum collections, includingAteneum (Finnish National Gallery),[14]Cleveland Museum of Art,[15]Hecht Museum,[12]Indianapolis Museum of Art,[16]Metropolitan Museum of Art,[9]Musée d'Orsay,[17]Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,[18] andNy Carlsberg Glyptotek.[6][19]
In 2010, LAVA[20] created the Charles Angrand (Artwork) Award, which has been awarded annually since 2011. The LAVA Awards are held annually to honor excellence in books relating to the principles of liberty, with the Charles Angrand Award being the grand prize award for artwork.
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