Henri le Sidaner

Mme Le Sidaner, France
Prof. Henri Gougerot, Paris (sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 21st March 1955)
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 24th May 1955
Petrus Jan Rienstra Van Stuyvesande, Amsterdam
Sale: Paul Brandt, Amsterdam, May 1962
Private Collection (purchased at the above sale)

Brussels, Galerie des artistes français, Exposition Le Sidaner, October 1931, no. 3
Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Exposition Le Sidaner, February 1934
Paris, Palais Galliéra, Henri Le Sidaner 1862-1939, April 1948, no. 61
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Henri Le Sidaner, no. 185

Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, L'oeuvre peint et gravé, Milan, 1989, no. 713, illustrated p. 261

Le Sidaner's ambition to find a place in the countryside away from Paris, where he could design his own garden was fulfilled in 1904 after years of searching. According to Rémy Le Sidaner, 'Towards the turn of the century, Henri Le Sidaner was seized with a burning ambition. He longed to plan a garden of his own, in which the landscape would be designed by him personally and in which he could achieve his favourite light effects. He mentioned this project to Auguste Rodin, who advised him the Beauvais area. A potter living in Beauvais, answering to the name of Delaherche, recommended the village of Gerberoy' (R. Le Sidaner, quoted in Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, op. cit., p. 14).

By 1904, Le Sidaner bought a cottage in Gerberoy, which he first visited in 1901. He immediately set out to enlarge both the cottage and the grounds, and designed all aspects of the improvement himself. The artist's creative efforts were particularly focused on the flower garden, which provided him with an endless source of inspiration and a wealth of new subject matter. In the present work, his fascination with his rose garden is translated into a colourful explosion. Obsessed with designing his own garden and depicting it in numerous works at different times of the day and through changing seasons, the artist's cottage and garden is in many ways reminiscent of Monet's treatment of his home in Giverny.