The Valley of the Sedelle

Armand Guillaumin, a first-generation Impressionist, liked working at dawn, often stopping at 8 a.m. to avoid the sun. This routine became easier in 1891, when he won the lottery and quit his job with the Paris-Orléans railway. His unlabored approach to this pastel, allowing the textured paper to show through, helps approximate the early-morning light. Guillaumin’s love of color translated into dashes of violet, salmon, and purple on the tree trunks, and cobalt and periwinkle on the water. The Sédelle River was near his home in Crozant, near Limoges, France.