Henri Martin

Galeries Georges Petit, Paris
Mary Edwards, Pevensey, Sussex
Sale: Christie's, New York, October 21, 1980, lot 11
The Dallhold Collection, Australia
Private Collection, U.K.
Nevill Keating Pictures, London
Acquired from the above in 2009

In excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. The surface is clean with a well retained impasto. A few thin cracks in the pink pigment. A small chip of pigment in the blue river is visible in the center lower edge. Under UV light a small spot of inpainting is visible in the extreme upper right corner. The unprimed canvas fluoresces slightly under the UV light. In overall excellent condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1900 Martin bought a property in Labastide-du-Vert, a small village North of Cahors near Toulouse. On the thirty acres of land stood a large seventeenth century house and Martin became extremely attached to this property. The acquisition of Marquayrol marked a turning point in Martin's career—he abandoned allegory and myth to fully devote himself to representing nature. As Martin once said, "My preoccupation with rendering atmospheric effects increased later, after three months in the country, face to face with nature. Trying to capture its diverse effects, I was compelled to paint it differently. The natural light, now brilliant, then diffuse, which softened the contours of figures and landscape, powerfully obliged me to translate it any way I could, but other than using a loaded brush, through pointille and the breaking up of tone" (quoted in Henri Martin (exhibition catalogue), Musée Henri Martin, Cahors, 1992, p. 89).

Martin's canvases from this period are characteristically joyous expressions of light, color and texture. Jacques Martin-Ferrières, the artist's son, writes, "Henri Martin was without contest an Impressionist and one who had the deepest sensitiveness, certainly equal to that of Monet, whom he most admired. Their interpretation of nature is certainly, owing to their utmost sensitiveness and not through research of a technical process, a poetical evocation hued by a thousand colors which can undoubtedly be called a work of art" (Jacques Martin-Ferrières, Henri Martin, Paris, 1967, p. 35).

Martin-Ferrières continues, "If I look at a fragment of Henri Martin's canvas... I immediately recognize it. I see a great number of dots of different colors, as precious and rare as precious stones. His palette is an enchantment. Many different interminglings of colors make a rare and rich harmony... And it is much more difficult to find a good harmony of colors when representing nature than to assemble some nice colors, representing nothing. In here lies the gift of Impressionists and that is why there are so few" (ibid., p. 42).