Louis HAYET 1864-1940

A precocious draughtsman, inspired early on by Chevreul’s theories, Louis Hayet spent his whole life researching color.

After studying at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, he joined the Neo-Impressionist group, first with Camille Pissarro and his son Lucien, then with Signac and above all Seurat, who had a profound influence on him.

Louis Hayet, neo-impressionist genius

Fénéon, commenting on one of his landscapes at the Salon des Indépendants in 1889, said:

“M. Hayet’s painting is one of the most beautiful produced by the Impressionists”

From an early age, Hayet was obsessed by the precariousness of his situation, and isolated himself from his friends. Eventually, he refused to appear at the neo-Impressionist exhibitions of the early 20th century. In 1890, he wrote to Signac that he wished to isolate himself and resigned from the neo-impressionist adventure. He therefore no longer exhibited with his old friends Cross, Lucien Pissarro, Signac, Van Rysselberghe, Petitjean and Charles Angrand, exhibiting exclusively in galleries (Le Barc de Boutteville, etc.).

Working mainly on small formats, mostly on cardboard, his paintings have an exceptional luminosity and freshness. According to his expert, he is a genius on a par with Seurat. He was bought by the greatest collectors (Wildenstein, Josefowitz…) and foreign museums. With the exception of Seurat, he was one of the very few members of the neo-impressionist group, if not the only one, to have dominated the problem of divisionism.

Louis Hayet distinguished himself with his "colorful orchestration" that was dear to him.

Neo-Impressionism no longer blended tones but applied touches of pure color to create a center of vibrations. The touches are composed on the retina into an optical blend.