Terms and conditions of use
October
(Saison d'octobre)
1878
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
180.7 × 196.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1928
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Painted at the artist’s native village of Damvillers in the Meuse Valley (northeast of Paris), October represents the annual potato harvest in a bleak autumnal landscape. Inspired by the examples of Millet and Courbet, Bastien-Lepage set out to paint rural life as he knew it, celebrating the dignity of the peasants but also its hardships. Now considered a realist, Bastien-Lepage despised city painters who sentimentalised country life. Like Corot, he combined elements of plein-air Impressionism with a controlled approach to technical finish thus rendering the subject palatable to Salon audiences. A huge popular success, he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur as a result.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in yellow paint l.l.: 1878 DAMVILLERS / J. BASTIEN - LEPAGE
Accession Number
3678-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Agriculture Human Figures Labour, Industry and Machinery
Subjects (specific)
autumn cropland Damvillers (inhabited place) France (nation) harvesters (people in agriculture) harvesting potatoes women (female humans)
Provenance
Collection of the artist until his death, 1884; included in Jules Bastien-Lepage estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11-12 May 1885, no. 13; from where purchased by Emile Bastien-Lepage (1854–1938), brother of the artist, 1885; his collection, until 1897; by whom sold to Arthur Tooth & Sons (dealer), London, 1897; collection of George McCulloch (1848–1907), London, until 1907[1]; by descent to his wife, Mary (later Mrs Coutts Michie), until 1927[2]; from whom purchased, through David Croal Thompson (dealer) of Barbizon House, on the advice of Frank Rinder, for the Felton Bequest, 1927.
[1] Bruce Pennay, 'McCulloch, George (1848–1907)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcculloch-george-4074/text6501, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessible via link.
[2] McCulloch bequeathed an estate valued at £436,000. The bulk of the his art collection was subsequently auctioned, realising a total of £136,859. In 1909, Mary married the Scottish artist James Coutts Michie (1859–1919). See Barbara Lemon, 'Mary Coutts Michie' in The Australian Women’s Register, The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE4013b.htm
Frame
Jules Bastien-Lepage’s October, 1878, appears in the back of an undated (c.1900) photograph of the collection of George McCulloch, featuring the dealer David Croal Thomson. The painting is framed in a classical revival scotia frame, which might be seen to be the original presentation of the painting. The artist died in 1884, the picture was sold in 1885 and acquired by McCulloch in 1897. We should note, however, the apparent repetition of the frame on other paintings in the photograph. Thomson eventually negotiated the sale of the painting to the NGV in 1927.
By the late 20th century the painting was on display in only the slip section of this frame.
The remains of the outer frame sections, three full sides and two parts of a fourth side, were found in storage.
No record has come to light of the reason why the outer frame was removed and the work left on display in the slip. It is possible that this approach was connected with the program of modernisation that swept through presentation of the collection from the late 1930’s, removing decorative and/or broad frames and reducing the edges to simpler forms and thinner profiles. In some instances, like this one, the frame sections were kept, able to be later re-instated.
The frame pieces were re-assembled and the missing piece replaced in the fourth side in 1993.
The painting was cleaned in 2003.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Unknown - 19th century
Date
c.1878
Materials
Wood, composition, gold leaf
Frame Condition
partially restored in 1993