Henri Le Sidaner (1862–1939)

HENRI EUGENE AUGUSTIN LE SIDANER (French, 1862–1939)
Le Banc, Gerberoy, 1903
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/4 in. (65.4 x 81.9 cm)
Signed (at lower right): Le Sidaner 

RECORDED: Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner: L’Oeuvre Peint et Gravé (Paris: Éditions André Sauret, 1989) p. 89 no. 150 illus. // Josette Galiégue et al., Henri Le Sidaner en son Jardin de Gerberoy, 1901–1939, exhib. cat. (Beauvais, France: Musée départemental de l’Oise; Saint-Rémy-en-l’Eau, France: Éditions d’art Monelle Hayot, 2001), p. 19 illus. in color // Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Henri Le Sidaner: Paysages intimes (Saint-Rémy-en-l’Eau, France: Éditions Monelle Hayot, 2013), p. 206 illus. in color

EXHIBITED: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, June 7–8, 1906, Collection C. Coquelin, p. 44 no. 59 illus. as “Le Chien”

EX COLL: the artist; [Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, no. 2971 and 8481]; Collection Coquelin Cadet, Paris; [Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, 1906]; Collection Benigno Paiva Irisarri, Montevideo, Uruguay; Collection Clotilde Santayana de Paiva, Montevideo, Uruguay; [Hammer Galleries, New York]; to private collection, New York, 1989; to [D. Sole & Son, LLC, Far Hills, New Jersey]; to private collection, California, 1995 until the present
 

Le Sidaner’s ability to conjoin with his predilection for intimacy and seclusion within a rustic environment is well exemplified in the paintings he created in Gerberoy. For the most part, the Gerberoy canvases feature outdoor scenes, especially depictions of tables set for luncheon and tea in the garden portrayed against a backdrop of flowers and trees. In this respect, Le banc, Gerberoy is an especially charming example from the artist’s Gerberoy oeuvre. Painted in 1903, the work reveals Le Sidaner’s practice of employing a tightly cropped composition, in this case composed of four simple elements: the artist’s residence, the overhanging foliage of a nearby tree, a plain wooden bench, and most importantly, a large dog shown in quiet repose amidst dappled sunlight, its presence adding an appealing narrative element to the image.

Le Sidaner’s palette of pastel hues––wherein shimmering pinks and greens merge and mingle with warm earth tones––help evoke the aura of calm and tranquility that reflected the artist’s peaceful life in Gerberoy. His divisionist technique––delicate and intuitive when compared to the systematic method of applying pigment favored by Seurat and his cohorts––imbues the picture with a feeling of spontaneity and a fleeting, dream-like quality. To be sure, Le banc, Gerberoy brings to mind, as one commentator so astutely observed, that “The point of [Le Sidaner’s] dots was to make his picture surfaces tremble like images hovering on the edge of perception” (Laura Gascoigne, “Henri Le Sidaner: The Artist Who Fell Between Two Schools,” The Spectator, May 10, 2014).

In September 1903, Le Sidaner delivered Le Banc, Gerberoy to Georges Petit, who photographed it before selling it to Ernest-Alexandre-Honoré Coquelin (1848–1909), an actor, known as “Coquelin cadet,” who was a member of the Comédie Française from 1879 until his death thirty years later. When Coquelin’s collection was sold at Galerie Georges Petit on June 9, 1906, the commentaries in the accompanying catalogue included a description of Le banc, Gerberoy, in which the writer noted the key components of the artist’s Gerberoy oils: the presence of Le Sidaner’s house, the idyllic setting, and the sunbeams filtering through the leafage. Not surprisingly, the author made special mention of Le Sidaner’s touching canine subject, who patiently waits for its master to occupy the empty bench, stating:

Au pied du banc, calme, l’oeil ouvert pendant, un chien noir est couché, la tête allongée sur le sol; il goûte un repos beat, la patte droite de devant légèrement allongée: il s’abandonne, il est heureux, mais le movement de ses orielles relevées indique qu’il vielle. [At the foot of the bench, calm, with one eye open, a black dog lies with his head on the ground; he is taking a beautiful rest, his leg slightly extended: he has surrendered to the moment, he is happy, but the movement of his ears indicates that despite his relaxed posture, he is nevertheless watchful and very much awake.]

Le banc, Gerberoy was purchased at the Coquelin sale by none other than Monsieur Petit himself, who bought it for the sum of 2,750 francs.