An unknown artist at Doctor Gachet
The Maison du Docteur Gachet in Auvers sur Oise is presenting the first retrospective of Blanche Derousse (1873-1911) until September 22. The exhibition brings together 12 reproductions of watercolors kept at the Musée d'Orsay, 12 facsimiles of etchings belonging to the National Library of France, a print from the Tavet museum in Pontoise and another from the Daubigny museum in Auvers, with 6 drawings and engravings from the collection of the Department of Val d'Oise and 12 works from private collections.
Blanche Derousse was the niece of Doctor Gachet's governess. When she was in her twenties, he recruited her as a student with his son Paul Louis Gachet. The doctor had been introduced by Camille Pissarro to the impressionist painters he treated. He thus formed an extraordinary collection of paintings, of which he wanted to write a catalog by illustrating it with copies. With him, the young woman learned watercolour, oil and engraving, multiplying the copies by changing technique.
Blanche was fascinated by the canvases hanging on the walls of Doctor Gachet's house: no less than thirteen Pissarro, two Renoir, one Monet, one Sisley, thirty or so Cézanne and numerous Van Gogh.
Crouching Woman, the first print by Blanche Derousse, was exhibited at the Salon de Pontoise in 1898. This forgotten artist exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants from 1903 and died anonymously at the age of 38, in 1911.
In his art history lectures, Fabrice Roy combines the past with the present, in a poetic and playful evocation of the French 19th century...
78 rue Gachet
95430 Auvers-sur-Oise
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