Identifying painting

I have been working for some years on a painting, which I acquired
from private hands. As someone who concerns himself strongly with
art and as a curator of a private German collection, I thought
immediately that this is indeed a really good painting and this is
made from from "master hand". It is simply from the particular
subject matter that it could be from an unknown painter.

My first idea was French. The painting has a strongly Symbolistic
character, also the proximity to Nabis is in my opinion very near,
because at the beginning of my research no other painters occurred
to me [for] such a topic--Jesus at the cross, or people represented
as martyrs.

I thought in particular of the region Pont Aven, in Brittany . Much
in the painting reminds me also on the Ecole de Barbizon and
Courbet, also and in particular the lower left group of figures on
Eugene Boudin. Since recent time I have the assumption that it also
could be from one the mentioned artists . The colors of "the group
of figures under the cross" and the lines at the right
"mountain-slope", (drawn with india ink), over the pigments, permit
this assumption.

The painting was originally larger, the canvas was pulled over the
stretcher frame and some details have become visible only after the
restoration (approximately in each case 5 cm at each edge).  I think
that the painting was originally still larger, and was possibly cut.

That would also explain the missing signature. After more research
and after making a pigment analysis I am quite sure that this
painting was painted around 1865-1890. The pigment analysis results
show the same composition of colors as the results of "Art at the
making impressionism" by the National Gallery London in 2004.

Does anyone have an idea by looking at this painting?

    Calvaire dans un village
    Huile sur toile
    97 x 78 cm

Robert Mohren


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:37
                 Distributed: Friday, December 19, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-22-37-030
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