The Organ Rehearsal | Henry Lerolle | All | European Paintings | Collection Database | Works of Art

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signed (lower right): h.Lerolle

Gallery LabelAlthough little remembered today, Lerolle was part of a dynamic circle of creative French intellectuals at the turn of the century. Independently wealthy, Lerolle, along with his brother-in-law, the composer Ernest Chausson, collected works by Bonnard, Degas, Denis, Renoir, Vuillard, and other of their contemporaries.

"The Organ Rehearsal" is the most important of Lerolle's paintings. Set in the choir loft of the church of Saint-François-Xavier in Paris, the figures are family members and close friends of the artist. Lerolle's wife, shown with sheet music on her lap, sits between her two sisters: one is the singer; the other was married to Chausson, who plays the organ. Lerolle appears at left, facing outward.

This painting, which bears comparison to other contemporary scenes of modern life, such as Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte" (1884–86, The Art Institute of Chicago), was exhibited at the Salon of 1885. It debuted in New York the following year, in the first major Impressionism exhibition held in America.

Provenance[Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1886]; George I. Seney, New York (1886–87)

Exhibition History

Paris. Salon. 1885, no. 1563.

New York. American Art Association. "Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris," April 10–28, 1886, no. 29.

New York. National Academy of Design. "Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris," May 25–June 30, 1886, no. 29.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Collection of Paintings and Sculpture," November 1886–April 1887, no. 137.

References

Louis Énault. Paris-Salon 1885. Paris, 1885, pp. 69–70, ill. between pp. 68 and 69.

Le Livre d'or du Salon de peinture et de sculpture. Paris, 1885, p. 46, ill. between pp. 46 and 47.

André Michel. "Le Salon de 1885 (2e article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2ème pér., 31 (June 1885), p. 495.

"The Metropolitan Museum: The Fourteenth Semi-Annual Exhibition." Evening Post (November 6, 1886), p. ?.

Luther Hamilton. "The Work of the Paris Impressionists in New York." Cosmopolitan (June 1886), p. 240.

"Nos gravures. À l'orgue." L'Illustration 83 (December 25, 1886), p. 448, ill. pp. 438–39 (engraving).

"Fine Paintings on Exhibition." Mail and Express (November 6, 1886), p. ?.

"The Loan Collection: Today's Display at The Metropolitan Museum." New York Advertiser (November 8, 1886), p. ?.

"Metropolitan Museum: Opening Reception—The Loan Collections and Recent Acquisitions." New York Herald (November 9, 1886), p. ?.

"Fine Art Exhibition: Some of the Masterpieces to Be Seen in the Metropolitan Museum." New York Star (November 8, 1886), p. ?.

"Paintings for Amateurs." New York Times (April 10, 1886), p. 5.

"Loan Collection: Paintings and Sculptures at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." New York Times (November 7, 1886), p. 9.

"The Fine Arts: The Loan Collection at the Metropolitan Museum, New York." Philadelphia Telegraph (November 8, 1886), p. ?.

Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer. "The French Impressionists." Independent 38 (April 22, 1886), pp. 7–8.

C. M. S. "Gallery and Studio: Loan Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Brooklyn Eagle (November 28, 1886), p. 2.

Town Topics (November 11, 1886), p. ?.

"A Late Art Exhibition." World 26 (May 25, 1886), p. 8.

"The Fine Arts: Recent Gifts to the Metropolitan Museum." Critic (April 16, 1887), pp. 193–94.

"The New Pictures at The Metropolitan Museum." Harper's Weekly (May 14, 1887), p. ?.

Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer. "The Wolfe Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. I." Independent 39 (November 17, 1887), p. 6.

M[ariana]. G[riswold]. van Rensselaer. "Pictures of the Season in New York. III." American Architect and Building News 21 (April 23, 1887), p. 195.

Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer. "The Wolfe Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. II." Independent 39 (November 24, 1887), p. 9.

C. M. S. "Gallery and Studio." Brooklyn Eagle (March 27, 1887), p. 2.

Clarence Cook. Art and Artists of Our Time. New York, 1888, vol. 1, pp. 142–44, ill.

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art—The French Painters." New York Times (May 22, 1895), p. 4.

Arthur Hoeber. The Treasures of The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. New York, 1899, p. 82.

"Organ and Choir." Etude 18 (July 1900), p. 262, ill. (engraving).

D[aniel]. Cady Eaton. A Handbook of Modern French Painting. New York, 1909, p. 319, fig. 224.

Maurice Denis. Henry Lerolle et ses amis. [Paris], 1932, pp. 14–15, fig. 8.

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, pp. 210–11, ill.

Lois Dinnerstein. "Beyond Revisionism: Henry Lerolle's 'The Organ'." Arts Magazine 54 (January 1980), pp. 172–76, figs. 1–3, 7 (overall and details).

John Leighton and Richard Thomson. Seurat and the Bathers. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 1997, pp. 98–99, 105 n. 9, pl. 115.

Agnes Armstrong. "'A l'orgue' d'Henry Lerolle: Le tableau et ses sujets." La Flûte harmonique no. 79/80 (2000), pp. 19–35, ill. p. 20 and cover (detail).

John Collins in Ann Dumas and John Collins. Renoir's Women. Exh. cat., Columbus Museum of Art. London, 2005, p. 95.

Emmanuelle Amiot-Saulnier. "Henry Lerolle (1848–1929), peintre naturaliste et chrétien." Histoire de l'art no. 58 (April 2006), pp. 85, 88, 91 nn. 19–21, fig. 2.

Curatorial Department

European Paintings: All