Lot 194
  • 194

Henri Martin

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Henri Martin
  • Saint Cirq-La Popie
  • Signed Henri Martin. (lower left) 
  • Oil on canvas
  • 46 by 37 7/8 in.
  • 116.8 by 96.3 cm

Provenance

Louis Le Sidaner, Paris
Sale: Christie's, New York, November 9, 2006, lot 323 
Private Collection, London (acquired at the above sale)
Waterhouse and Dodd, London
Acquired from the above 

Condition

This work is in overall very good condition and has a lovely rich and varied texture. The canvas is not lined. Under UV: a few very tiny flecks of retouching to the center of the extreme upper edge.
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.

Catalogue Note

In 1900 Martin bought a large seventeenth-century house in Labastide-du-Vert, a small village outside Cahors in the South of France. The acquisition of this house marked a transition in his artistic style, as he began to demonstrate influence of the art of Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. Martin reflected on his stylistic shift, “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 forced to paint it differently. The natural light, now brilliant, then diffuse, which softened the contours or 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 Martin, Cahors, 1992, p. 89).

The town of Saint Cirq-La Popie so enamored him that he bought a house nearby it in 1911. Built on a high cliff and dominated by the part Gothic, part Romanesque church, Saint Cirq provided a picturesque scene that Martin would paint several times throughout his career. All aspects of the present work, from the carefully modulated palette to the geometric shapes of the buildings, form a pictorial harmony that demonstrates Martin’s sheer artistic talent. 

When describing Martin's personal interpretation of Impressionist techniques, Jules Laforgue remarked, “The shapes are given not by a outline drawing, but only by vibrations and contrasts in colours. The painting whatever it represents, the light of the studio is replaced by natural light and work indoors, by work in the open air… A lover of reality, he does not want it to impose upon him its feelings but to help him to transfigure his dream of beauty with a more accurate, a more lively eloquence. He borrowed the Impressionists' technique to reveal a quite subjective art. Impressionism gave Henri Martin his expression, but it does not impose upon him its inspiration” (Jacques-Martin-Ferrières, Henri Martin, Paris, 1967, pp. 33-34).