LAPRADE, Bouquet of Wild Flowers

Pierre LAPRADE (1875-1931), Bouquet of Wild Flowers, oil on canvas, 61.5 x 38 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Pierre LAPRADE (1875-1931)
Bouquet of Wild Flowers
oil on canvas
61.5 x 38 cm
© MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
HD image
"No one has understood the poetry of a bouquet like him. His dark gold ears of wheat, his wild flowers, his pale, tart lemons add true colours, bright greens and yellows, vivid pinks, immaterial blues, the grey mist of his backgrounds. And his infinitely varied greys are nuanced with all the fine details that can be seen by the human eye." When flowers are not used as garlands to frame Laprade’s vast landscapes or gardens, they find their place in a vase against a neural background, a simple still life.
 
In Bouquet of Wild Flowers, the sober vase made of clear glass lets the nuanced tones of grey from the wall show through. Fine and delicate brushwork is used to convey the lightness of the blue bells and anemones, bathed in a soft glow. The violet of their petals appears to penetrate the harmonies of grey in the background. A few thick touches of white are enough to give shape to the daisies placed in the centre of the bouquet. His luminous whites also give the vase shimmering reflections that assert its full materiality.
 
Laprade arranges and combines his flowers in bouquets filled with grace and nobility. "The wild flowers, poppies, cornflowers, simple roses mixed with wheat that he loved are not bouquets from nature, but interior floral arrangements. He did not content himself with planting the flowers roughly in a copper or stoneware jug, like Vlaminck, but rather artistically arranging them in a vase of old Rouen faience. All of Laprade's work, wistful and dreamy, reveals the soul of a poet.”

Artworks in context : Post-Impressionism (16)

Félix VALLOTTON (1865-1925), The Waltz, 1893, oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Henri Edmond CROSS (1856-1910), Beach at Vignasse, The Golden Isles, 1891-1892, oil on canvas, 65.5 x 92.2 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Édouard VUILLARD (1868-1940), Children Reading, 1906, oil on board, 14.5 x 26 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Pierre BONNARD (1867-1947), Interior at the Balcony, 1919, oil on canvas, 52 x 77 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Paul SÉRUSIER (1864-1927), The Corydon Shepherd, 1913, oil on canvas, 73 x 99 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Charles COTTET (1863-1925), Mountain, ca. 1900-1910, oil on board, 53 x 74 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Jules Léon FLANDRIN (1871-1947), La Pavlova and Nijinsky, 1909, oil on board, 52 x 67.3 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn — © ADAGP, Paris, 2015
Pierre LAPRADE (1875-1931), Saint-Trojan, Terrace, oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Paul SÉRUSIER (1864-1927), Hill with Poplars, 1907, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 54.4 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Paul SÉRUSIER (1864-1927), Still Life with Reeds or Primrose and Corn, 1904, oil on canvas, 60.5 x 73.5 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Félix VALLOTTON (1865-1925), The Top Hat, Interior or The Visit, 1887, oil on canvas, 32.7 x 24.8 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Félix VALLOTTON (1865-1925), Still Life with Apples, 1910, oil on canvas, 38 x 46 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / David Fogel
Félix VALLOTTON (1865-1925), Roman Bridge at Cagnes, 1923, oil on canvas, 73.5 x 60 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Pierre LAPRADE (1875-1931), Bouquet of Wild Flowers, oil on canvas, 61.5 x 38 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Charles COTTET (1863-1925), Venice, ca.1895-1896, oil on canvas, 73.2 x 92.5 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn
Charles COTTET (1863-1925), Sudanese Village (Aswan 1895), 1895, oil on paper pasted on panel, 32.3 x 41.5 cm. © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn