- 343
Henri Martin
bidding is closed
Description
- Henri Martin
- LE PONT DE LA BASTIDE DU VERT
- signed Henri Martin (lower right)
- oil on canvas
- 83 by 113cm., 32 5/8 by 40 5/8 in.
Provenance
Galerie Mignon-Massart, Nantes
André Lotz, Nantes (acquired from the above in February 1937)
Thence by descent to the present owner
Catalogue Note
After searching for the ideal house for almost ten years, Henri Martin finally acquired Marquayrol in 1900, a beautiful mansion overlooking La Bastide du Vert, near Cahors. The house and the region became his main sources of inspiration and deeply influenced his style. It was here that the artist found the important southern light denied him in Paris which stimulated and fulfilled his artistic needs. As Claude Juskiewenski suggested, 'this move to the Lot at the age of 40 marks a decisive turning point in his artistic output. Muses and lyres disappear from his canvases and he dares to confront daily the light of the south' (C. Juskiewenski, Henri Martin 1860 – 1943, (exhibition catalogue), Cahors & Toulouse, 1993, p. 98).
The present work encapsulates Martin’s signature style of broken brushwork suspended within a rigorously structured composition. As Martin's son and fellow artist, Jac Martin-Ferrières, noted '[Henri Martin's] palette is an enchantment. Many different interminglings of colours make a rare and rich harmony... And it is much more difficult to find a good harmony of colours when representing nature than to assemble some nice colours representing nothing. Herein lies the gift of the Impressionists and that is why there are so few' (J. Martin-Ferrières, Henri Martin, Paris, 1967, p. 35).
The present work encapsulates Martin’s signature style of broken brushwork suspended within a rigorously structured composition. As Martin's son and fellow artist, Jac Martin-Ferrières, noted '[Henri Martin's] palette is an enchantment. Many different interminglings of colours make a rare and rich harmony... And it is much more difficult to find a good harmony of colours when representing nature than to assemble some nice colours representing nothing. Herein lies the gift of the Impressionists and that is why there are so few' (J. Martin-Ferrières, Henri Martin, Paris, 1967, p. 35).