Louis Hayet was born in August 1864 into a poor family in Pontoise. From the age of twelve, he showed a particular interest in painting. Between 1877 and 1884, he traveled the roads with his father, who worked as an itinerant merchant. Beginning in 1881, after discovering the writings of Chevreul, he became interested in color theory. He showed his work to Pissarro in 1883 and reconnected with the Pissarro, father and son, in Paris in 1885. Between 1883 and 1886, Hayet produced primarily watercolors depicting the countryside around Pontoise. In 1886, Pissarro, remembering the young Hayet’s theories on color, decided to take him along with his own son Lucien to visit Seurat’s studio to show them “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” This visit proved decisive for Hayet. In September of that year, he left to complete his military service, which prevented him from participating in the Salon des Independents of 1887. During this period, he created chromatic circles that he sent to Pissarro for Guillaumin, Zandomeneghi, Seurat, Signac, and Lucien Pissarro.

From 1887 onward, Hayet created small-format works featuring dynamic Neo-Impressionist brushwork. This work evoked a certain sense of abstraction, bringing him closer to Van Gogh’s approach. At the 1889 Salon des Independents, Félix Fénéon was effusive in his praise of the painter, describing one of his paintings as one of “the most beautiful that the Impressionists have produced.” The recognition continued the following year when he was invited to participate in the Salon of Les XX

group in Brussels. From the 1890s onward, Hayet returned to a more classical manner of painting, and Signac subsequently removed all mention of Hayet from the second edition of “From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism,” a sort of manifesto of Pointillism. This new artistic direction was undoubtedly influenced by Seurat’s death in 1891. Hayet isolated himself and continued his scientific research on pigments and the integration of desaturated tones. Nevertheless, he participated in eight exhibitions at the Galerie Le Barc de Boutteville between 1894 and 1897. 

This watercolor, “Fête foraine la nuit,” which may have been created around 1889, demonstrates Hayet’s research on brushwork and color. Its small format corresponds well to the production of the period when the artist was developing a Neo- Impressionist style. The chromatic range composed of blue tones gives the composition a warm quality. Here Hayet represents one of the favorite themes of this era, namely the leisure activities of society such as theater and opera, and the carnival. He places himself directly in the lineage of Seurat, who had painted works on the same theme. This work comes from the collection of Jean Sutter, the artist’s biographer.