Henri-Joseph Harpignies - Moonrise [1885]

Henri-Joseph Harpignies - Moonrise [1885], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Harpignies' career as a painter began late, after he had given up a commercial career in his native town, Valenciennes. Although he had a studio in Paris, he maintained close ties with artists and friends in Valenciennes, where he played a more active role than in the Paris art world. In 1883 he signed a contract with the firm of Arnold and Tripp, art dealers in Paris, that freed him from the management and sale of his work. Moonrise, inspired by a passage from the poetry of Victor Hugo, is a painting that was commissioned by the artist's dealers, who presented the canvas to the Museum in 1886. Harpignies treated the romantic theme with characteristic directness, in a style influenced by the Barbizon painters and especially Corot.

[Metropolitan Museum of Art - Oil on canvas, 87.6 x 163.2 cm]