Description
HENRI LEBASQUE (French, 1865-1937)
Femmes et enfants dans un Jardin en été
1912
oil on canvas
95.5 × 76 cm (37⅝ × 30 in.)
signed ‘Lebasque’ (lower right)
POA
PROVENANCE
Galerie Spiess, Paris
Sale: Hôtel Rameau, Versailles, 3 June 1981, lot 58
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 9 April 1989, lot 73
Galerie Casa Bella, Paris
Sale: Perrin-Royère-Lajeunesse, Versailles, 24 June 1989, lot 36
Private collection, United Kingdom
LITERATURE
dimensions).
D. Bazetoux, Henri Lebasque: Catalogue raisonné, vol. I, Paris, 2008, no. 559, p. 169.
Christine Lenoir and Maria de la Ville Fromoit have confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Hailed as the painter of “joy and light,” Lebasque absorbed a wide range of artistic influences in the development of his own lyrical style. Lebasque’s biographer Paul Vitry underlines the importance of Camille Pissarro and the aesthetic of the Impressionists’ works to the younger artist, who was also enthused by the more formal approach of Georges Seurat’s divisionism.
When Lebasque participated in the first Salon d’Automne of 1903, as one of its main founders, he soon became acquainted with the “Fauves,” such as André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Manguin and Henri Matisse, who all became good friends. Their daring colours and violent contrasts served to enrich the artist’s palette, but Lebasque’s choice of subject matter resonated stronger with the intimism of Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, who also concentrated on representing atmospheric daily snapshots of their families, bathed in hues of harmonious colours.
The present work is exemplary in combining most of Lebasque’s influential artistic experiences into one luminous painting. The thick iridescent touches of paint show Lebasque’s understanding of colour and divisionism, while he uses bright tones to suffuse the scene with a sense of liveliness. An intimate scene of family life, the artist depicts a mother with her baby at the forefront of the work and two figures enjoying the garden. Lebasque creates a warm atmosphere with colours and light, evidence of the intimistes influence on his work. He masterfully creates a domestic scene in a plein-air painting, reflecting his own personal approach to the subject. Working with vigorous brushwork and radiant palette, Lebasque captures the play of light as it filters through the overhanging trees and branches.