Signed and dated (lower left): hjharpignies. [hj in monogram] 1885.
Harpignies's 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," 1885, 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.
[Arnold and Tripp, Paris, 1885–86; commissioned from the artist]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Collection of Paintings and Sculpture," November 1886–April 1887.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic," October 30, 1973–January 6, 1974, no. 31.
Memphis. Dixon Gallery and Gardens. "Henri-Joseph Harpignies: Paintings and Watercolors," December 3, 1978–January 14, 1979, no. 8.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Barbizon: French Landscapes of the Nineteenth Century," February 4–May 10, 1992, no catalogue.
George A. Lucas. Journal entry. November 9, 1885 [published in Lilian M. C. Randall, "The Diary of George A. Lucas: An American Art Agent in Paris, 1857–1909," Princeton, 1979, p. 618].
Town Topics (November 11, 1886), p. ?.
Catalogue of the Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1898, p. 168, no. 562.
William Sharp. "The Art Treasures of America (Concluded.)." Living Age, 7th ser., 1 (December 3, 1898), p. 606.
Arthur Hoeber. The Treasures of The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. New York, 1899, p. 88.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX Century." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2, New York, 1966, p. 102, ill.
Reba Russell. Henri-Joseph Harpignies: Paintings and Watercolors. Exh. cat., Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Memphis, 1978, pp. 24–25, no. 8, ill.
Hans-Peter Bühler. "Henri-Joseph Harpignies—Michelangelo der Bäume." Weltkunst 54 (May 1, 1984), p. 1247.
Stéphanie Constantin. "The Barbizon Painters: A Guide to Their Suppliers." Studies in Conservation 46, no. 1 (2001), p. 50.
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