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Lot Essay
Cyrille Martin and Marie-Anne Destrebecq-Martin have confirmed the authenticity of this work and will include it in the forthcoming Henri Martin catalogue raisonné.
Although embracing the Neo-Impressionist style, Martin successfully exhibited throughout his life at the Salon, debuting as early as 1880 and receiving a prize in 1883. In his works, he succeeded in marrying modern technique and classical subject-matter. The brilliance of his colours, the assurance of his compositions and the Symbolist undertones of his earlier works made the publicly celebrated artist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes declare: 'This one will be my heir, he will be my successor' (quoted in De Seurat à Paul Klee, Le néo-impressionnisme, exh. cat., Paris, 2005, p. 413). In the 1900s, the harmony of his colours and the decorative qualities of his compositions gained Martin several prestigious public and private commissions, namely the murals for the newly built Hôtel de Ville in Paris and the Capitole in Toulouse, the artist's native town.
Kept in a private collection in France for decades, the present work is a study for one of the four decorative paintings Henri Martin executed for the private dining room of Dr Jean d’Herbécourt in 1909-1911. Designed by the famous architects and painter Henry Bellery-Desfontaine and Rapin in 1910-1911, this dining-room is now on display at the Beauvais museum in Oise, France, along with the four monumental paintings by Henri Martin, Paysage de bord de mer, Déjeuner champêtre, La Traite de la chèvre, and Les Fiancés.
Although embracing the Neo-Impressionist style, Martin successfully exhibited throughout his life at the Salon, debuting as early as 1880 and receiving a prize in 1883. In his works, he succeeded in marrying modern technique and classical subject-matter. The brilliance of his colours, the assurance of his compositions and the Symbolist undertones of his earlier works made the publicly celebrated artist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes declare: 'This one will be my heir, he will be my successor' (quoted in De Seurat à Paul Klee, Le néo-impressionnisme, exh. cat., Paris, 2005, p. 413). In the 1900s, the harmony of his colours and the decorative qualities of his compositions gained Martin several prestigious public and private commissions, namely the murals for the newly built Hôtel de Ville in Paris and the Capitole in Toulouse, the artist's native town.
Kept in a private collection in France for decades, the present work is a study for one of the four decorative paintings Henri Martin executed for the private dining room of Dr Jean d’Herbécourt in 1909-1911. Designed by the famous architects and painter Henry Bellery-Desfontaine and Rapin in 1910-1911, this dining-room is now on display at the Beauvais museum in Oise, France, along with the four monumental paintings by Henri Martin, Paysage de bord de mer, Déjeuner champêtre, La Traite de la chèvre, and Les Fiancés.