Additional Images

Provenance:

Galerie Georges Petit, No. 11532;
Private Collection;
Vente 13 Juin 1973, Hotel Rameau, Versailles, No. 101;
Vente 7 Oct. 1973, Hotel Rameau, Versailles, No. 145;
Allan Rich Galleries, New York from whom purchased by Dr. Ronald J. Osborne, Toronto on May 12, 1975 entitled “Windows” and accompanied by the original invoice, No. 3291;
His Estate

Literature:

Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, “Le Sidaner, L’Oeuvre Peint/ L’Oeuvre Grave”, Paris, 1989, illustrated, Cat. No. 666, p. 247

Note:

Henri Le Sidaner turned to Impressionism more or less permanently at the beginning of the 20th Century. He would continue using this technique throughout his career to capture the effects of light, which was his passion and driving force behind his work.

As subject matter, he was drawn to water as it provided an infinite variety of reflective light to paint; however, garden scenes allowed him to play with sunlight silvering through branches, patches of shade and delicate floral tones.

Though he found endless inspiration in nature, Le Sidaner was also praised for his paintings of the built envronment; wrote Andre Bazin in 1912: “No one has bettered, or perhaps even equaled, his portrayal of our homes and his expression of their features”. The Versailles window is typical of his later style, which became more sparing and was “sometimes reduced to a wall overgrown with creepers”.

Le Sidaner was praised for the intimacy of his style: peaceful, silent and mysterious. He preferred the serenity of a quiet garden to city life. Versailles would become the artist’s favourite place of residence. It was where his children were educated, a place he where he would return to seek inspiration throughout his career.

“His entire work is influenced by a taste for tender, soft and silent atmospheres. Gradually he even went so far as to eliminate from his paintings all human figures, as if he feared that the slightest human form might disturb their muffled silence” (Paul Signac).