Henri le Sidaner

Galerie Georges Petit, Paris
R. Chameroy
Galerie Pacitti, Paris
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, July 27, 1955
Sale: Christie's, New York, November 16, 1988, lot 291
Charles and Mary Dugan-Chapman, London (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 20. 2006, lot 330)
Acquired at the above sale

Camille Mauclair, Henri Le Sidaner, Paris, 1928, illustrated p. 97
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, L'oeuvre peint et gravé, Milan, 1989, no. 387, illustrated p. 156

Le Sidaner developed his distinctive idiom during the 1890's, under the influence of Symbolism. The poignant fin-de-siècle mood of Maeterlinck and Verhaeren, of Lévy-Dhurmer and Khnopff set the tone for his oeuvre. On a formal level, he found a suitably harmonious, overall treatment for his compositions in Neo-Impressionism.

Critics have frequently described Le Sidaner's work in terms of musicality and silence. Always in a 'minor key;' its subtle harmonies are found to evoke a wistful mood that is exacerbated as Paul Signac notes, by the absence of figures, "His entire work is influenced by a taste for tender, soft and silent atmospheres. Gradually, he even went so far as to eliminate all human presence from his pictures, as if he feared that the slightest human form might disturb their muffled silence" (quoted in Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, L'oeuvre peint et gravé, Milan, 1989, p. 31). Instead of figures, the artist focused on the architectural and domestic environments as well as their man-made accoutrements. "He considered that the silent harmony of things is enough to evoke the presence of those who live among them. Indeed, such presences are felt throughout his works. Deserted they may be but never empty" (Camille Mauclair, Henri Le Sidaner, Paris, 1928, p.12).

L'Eglise et le Pont is a luminous scene executed in Moret, a village located about ninety-miles South of Paris.  The work is one of six landscapes Le Sidaner completed in 1918 of the Loing River.  The artist also completed a preparatory painting for the present work which was an oil on panel and about half the size of this work (see Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, op. cit.,  no. 1094, illustrated p. 353).  The present work epitomizes Le Sidaner's talent of creating subtle and serene landscapes.