Henri le Sidaner

Géo Davey
Frank A. Sage, Indiana (acquired in the 1920s)
Acquired from the above

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Le Sidaner, 1927, no. 39
Rouen, Musée de Rouen, Exposition Le Sidaner, 1928

Camille Mauclair, Le Sidaner, Paris, 1928, illustrated p. 195
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, l'oeuvre peint et gravé, Milan, 1989, no. 579, illustrated p. 217

Work is in excellent condition. Canvas is not lined. Under UV light: no inpainting is apparent.
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Employing one of Henri Le Sidaner's most celebrated themes, the present work invites viewers to gaze across a tranquil harbor, picturesquely framed by wide open French windows and a familiar wrought iron railing. The view is of the coastline of Cap Ferrat, seen from Le Sidaner's hotel room at the Hôtel Welcome in Villefranche-sur-Mer, a quaint and beautiful coastal village in southern France. Le Sidaner first visited Villefranche in 1910, seeking a refuge from the bitterly cold winters at his beloved Gerberoy. So captivated was he by the dazzling light effects of the region that he quickly made visiting an annual tradition, and between 1923 and 1930 he spent at least part of every winter working diligently to capture the shimmering splendor that surrounded him.

 

Fenêtre au crépuscule is one of an important series of thirty three paintings executed in Villefranche-sur-Mer between 1926 and 1927 and subsequently exhibited at the Galerie Georges Petit in November of 1927. Henri Le Sidaner's work of the 1920s is universally considered to be the peak of his long and distinguished career, and here the artist demonstrates his masterful ability, not only flawlessly conveying the subtlety of twilight with his diaphanous brushwork but achieving remarkable spatial depth through color and tone. Jacques Baschet underlines the excellence of Le Sidaner by comparing him to master of light depiction himself, Claude Monet. "With him (Le Sidaner), contours seem to emerge from the interplay of light, and in this respect, he is similar to Claude Monet" (J. Baschet, L'Illustration, 1924, quoted in Y. Farinaux-Le Sidaner, op. cit., p. 37).