3229 - HENRI LEBASQUE

HENRI LEBASQUE (Champigné 1865–1937 Le Cannet) Madame Lebasque et sa fille cousant devant la fenêtre. 1911. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left: H. Lebasque 1911. 81 × 65 cm. Provenance: - Auction Laurin-Rheims Paris, 23 June 1961, lot 139. - Musée du Petit-Palais, Geneva. - Auction Maître Blache Versailles, 5 December 1971, lot 51. - Private collection, France. - Auction Aguttes Neuilly-sur-Seine, 31 March 2006, lot 188. - Private collection, France. - Auction Sotheby's London, 23 June 2010, lot 271. - Private collection, Belgium, acquired at the above auction. Literature: Denise Bazetoux: Henri Lebasque. Catalogue raisonné, Neuilly-sur-Marne 2008, p. 193, no. 672 (ill.). Henri Lebasque's large-format ‘Madame Lebasque et sa fille cousant devant la fenêtre’ is compelling in its complexity: at once an interior and a view of the city or landscape beyond. At first, we are drawn into an intimate scene of family life. Bathed in light, the artist's wife and one of his daughters sit sewing beside the window, absorbed in their work. The dark railing and partially visible balcony doors create a firm, sheltered frame around this peaceful domestic scene. But as our gaze rises, a sunlit world opens up beyond: the blue sky with pink clouds and green trees is set against houses and an imposing chimney. The painting derives its distinctive, captivating effect from this harmonious interplay of private intimacy and the public world of the city, expressed through a rich and powerful palette. * The full tax is charged on this item marked *, i.e. VAT is charged on the sum will be refunded to Purchasers providing a validly stamped export declaration.