Henri-Edmond Cross, whose birth name was Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, was a French painter and printmaker. He began his art career working on portraits and still lifes, which he painted in realism or naturalism. When he began to gain traction in the art world, he changed his name from Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix to the name we now know him as, Henri-Edmond Cross. He changed his name so that he would avoid the confusion of being mistaken for Eugene Delacroix, which was a famous Romantic painter. This transition happened in 1881, which was also when Mr. Cross had his very first art exhibition. After this exhibition, Mr. Cross took a trip to the Alpes-Maritimes. This is where we see the first bud of evolution take place in his art. On this trip, he painted landscapes of the surrounding area. This seems to be the first widely known landscapes by Mr. Cross. Though these landscapes were still in a more naturalistic style, this is where we first start to see the transitioning of styles happening within Mr. Cross. Once he returned from his trip, Mr. Cross co-founded the Société des Artistes Indépendants, which was a group of artists that didn’t like what was going on in the Salon. This is where he became involved with the Neo-Impressionist movement, though he didn’t pick up the style for a little while longer. The more time that went by the lighter his color palette became and he began using the lighter palette of the Impressionists. The transition was slow and gradual, but Mr. Cross had finally fully adapted the Neo-Impressionist style in 1891. This was also the point in time when he moved to his home in Cabasson, and this is where his garden was that became the subject of so many of his works. The evolution took about 10 years, but the growth and change is very evident and a good example of evolution.
Corner of the Garden in Monaco
Artist: Henri-Edmond Cross
Date: 1884
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Private Collection
Corner of the Garden in Monaco was completed during the early parts of Mr. Cross’ career. It is a great example of his involvement in the Naturalism style. This piece is also a great diving board to see the evolution in his career.
In this painting, Mr. Cross is showing off a little bit. He is also showing his range with the deep shadows you can find spread out throughout the painting, as compared to the lights also found here. He is also still using pretty mute colors compared to his later works.
Study for the Grape Pickers
Artist: Henri-Edmond Cross
Date: 1892
Medium: Oil, Panel
Private Collection
Study for the Grape Pickers is a slight deviation from the normal style in which Mr. Cross paints. This piece is done in an Impressionist style, as opposed to the Naturalism everyone is use to, at this time, with Mr. Cross. This painting is of two women in a vineyard, doing what most could assume as picking grapes, as the title suggests. We see that the women seem to be the main focus of the piece, and the colors used on them would seem to contribute to that fact.
The Return of the Fisherman
Artist: Henri-Edmond Cross
Date: 1896
Medium: Oil, Canvas
Location: Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM), Oberlin, OH, US
The Return of the Fisherman is another step in evolution for Mr. Cross. You can see that you are on some kind of coastline, and that there is a man returning home from a long day of fishing. He seems to be carrying his catch that day back to either some kind of market or back to his home. This painting is a melding of styles that Mr. Cross has been practicing. This piece is somewhere between Pointillism and Neo-Impressionism. Cross also, at this point in time, had not fully adapted to the lighter color palette of the Neo-Impressionist style.
The Artist’s Garden at Saint-Clair
Artist: Henri-Edmond Cross
Date: 1904-05
Medium: Watercolor
Location: The Met
Accession Number: 48.10.7
In The Artist’s Garden at Saint-Clair we can see that Mr. Cross has completely taken up Neo-Impressionism, and has also put his own spin on the style. In this painting Mr. Cross has switched over from using dots, to using long blocky brush strokes. He also left space between each brush stroke. This decision tends to lead people to compare Mr. Cross’ works like this to mosaics, because they do share a resemblance. We do see here though that the vibrant, light, and playful color palette of the Neo-Impressionists has been completely absorbed into Cross’ style.
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