PRINS, Pierre, (1838-1913): ''Sent de Bris-Tete Cros-Rouvres 1886'', pastel, 7'' x 9.75'', signed lower right, original handwriting on the board visible verso along with typed catalog label and artist signature, gilded gesso frame, 16'' x 18''. Prinz was close friends with several of the Impressionists, such as Manet, Sisley and Bazille, but preferred not to take part in the artistic debates of the period. Although there are hints of Impressionism in his pieces, his style remained distinctively his own. Inspired by Manet, Prins began to work almost exclusively in pastels. As he was dying, Prins asked his heirs not to exhibit his work, nor to release work from his studio, for thirty years after his death. His work remained almost completely unknown for much of the period when that of his contemporaries rose to new heights. His paintings, pastels and drawings became better known after a retrospective exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris in 1963.