Provenance

William A. Cargill

Scottish, died 1962

Explore selected works

This painting depicts a scene by the water. Closest to us, a pile of objects sits on a grassy bank. The objects are indistinct, but there appears to be a white bundle with a gold-and-black object perched on it, surrounded by smaller round brown lumps. The green, grassy slope stretches off along the left, and it has a rectangular yellow section. On the right is a river or body of water painted in light blue with lines of green, red, and tan overlapping across the surface. In the distance, a large pale bridge stretches over the water, with vertical lines that look like smokestacks in the distance. Pale pink and purple smoke drifts up from one of them. On the left, tall, dark green trees surround light shapes that may be buildings. The sky is light blue-green. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and visible, blending color and the edges between shapes, making details hard to identify.
Georges Seurat, The Seine with Clothing on the Bank (Study for "Bathers at Asnières"), 1883/1884, oil on wood, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2014.18.56

The Seine with Clothing on the Bank (Study for "Bathers at Asnières")

Georges Seurat · 1883/1884 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  2014.18.56

This painting shows a scene with several people spaced out across a grassy expanse. The horizon is high in the painting, lined with white structures with red roofs and green trees. Closest to us are the silhouettes of several people engaged in leisurely activities. One person appears to sit on a grass hill, while others walk in opposite directions down a path, two holding umbrellas. The people are painted with thick, dark paint strokes, and have no detail inside their forms. Behind them, towards the horizon, is a wide pink stretch that could be a river or a path. The brushstrokes in the painting are loose and expressive, contributing to a sense of movement in the depiction of both the people and the landscape. The overall color palette consists of warm earth tones, muted greens, soft pinks, and gentle blues. Different colors are layered on top of one another in short brushstrokes, giving the painting a blurred effect.
Georges Seurat, Figures in a Landscape, c. 1883, oil on wood, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2014.18.53

Figures in a Landscape

Georges Seurat · c. 1883 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  2014.18.53

We look across a river at a long, flat bridge that runs parallel to a hazy, city skyline in the distance in this horizontal painting. The scene is painted with visible dashes and strokes of mostly pastel blue, ivory white, muted mauve purple, and navy blue. The flat bridge spans the width of the composition along the horizon, which comes a third of the way up the canvas. The sky above is filled with clouds painted in muted tones of cream white, pale blue, and a few touches of shell pink, which mirror the water below. Along the horizon, buildings with spires and towers stretch from our right about two-thirds of the way across the canvas. To our left, a cluster of several boats, tiny in scale, gather near the bridge. Closer, and to our right, three larger ferries are crowded with passengers who are represented by minuscule daubs of brightly colored paint, mostly in black, golden yellow, crimson red, sky and cobalt blue, and ivory white. These boats are painted in short, flat brushstrokes in bands of flame red and midnight blue. The artist signed and dated the work at the lower left: "C. Pissarro, 1890."
Camille Pissarro, Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1890, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.32

Charing Cross Bridge, London

Camille Pissarro · 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1985.64.32

Three light-skinned girls hold hands to create a loose ring with their arms extended, in a grassy field in this horizontal painting. All three girls wear white headdresses, ankle-length, long-sleeved dresses, and clogs. Each dress has a wide white collar that extends beyond the shoulders. A ruby-red flower is pinned to the brown apron on the two girls whose fronts we see. Their features and clothing are outlined in cobalt blue and filled in with parallel, often visible strokes. To our left, a girl stands with both arms stretched out, one holding the hand of the girl next to her, to our right. The first girl looks off into the distance to our left with dark eyes. She has a button nose, and her peach-colored lips curve down at the corners. Her auburn-red hair is tucked back under her bonnet. Her dress is navy blue, and her stockings are brick red. She steps forward onto her right foot, to our left. The second girl, holding the first girls’ hand, stands facing our right in profile, looking slightly down. Her features are indistinct, but she also seems to have a snub nose and her pink lips are closed. She has blond hair and an emerald-green dress. Her hazelnut-brown stockings match her apron. She also steps forward, but onto her left foot. The third girl stands with her back to us, seen between the first two, as she looks over her shoulder to our right in profile. Her left arm is also raised but her right arm is hidden behind the second girl. The third girl has brown hair and a pointed nose. Her dress is black, and she steps forward onto her right foot. A small dog with brown and white speckled fur sniffs at the grass to our right of the girls. Piles of long grass or hay dot the lemon-lime green field, which dips down behind the girls and to our left to meet a low, stone gray wall. Buildings in plum purple, ivory white, terracotta orange, and ocean blue span the width of the painting beyond the wall. One narrow spire reaches above the other rooflines. Tall, narrow, dark green trees are interspersed among the buildings, and a hill climbs nearly to the top of the canvas to our left. A few thin slate-gray clouds float across a narrow band of shell-pink sky above. The artist signed and dated the work in lower right corner, “P. Gauguin 88.”
Paul Gauguin, Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven, 1888, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.19

Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven

Paul Gauguin · 1888 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1983.1.19

Bibliography

2002

  • Fowles, Frances in Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth- Century French Painting from the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow. Exh. cat, 2002: 200