Nu Couché: Henri Lebasque

Nu Couché is an example of one of Henri Lebasque’s major artistic themes—the nude. Inspired by Bonnard and Matisse, Lebasque developed his interest in the odalisque, after his move to Le Cannet in the South of France in 1924.

Lisa A. Banner wrote: “The year 1924 marked an important turning point in Lebasque’s work and in his painting technique. […] From 1925 onward, painting from the model, and more specifically the painting of nudes, came to occupy a predominant place in his work. […] From then on, Lebasque turned toward painting the female body, which he evoked in its many splendours. In Le Cannet, he allowed the model to move, naked, in the warm half-light of rooms during summer, offering us – after Renoir, whom he admired, and not without having been influenced by Bonnard – some of the last and most beautiful nudes that we know.[1]

The pose of the female model in Nu Couché, is identical to one of the artist’s major canvases, Nu à la peau de léopard, Le Cannet, painted in 1926. The velvety throw and the background also share some similarity. Nu Couché was probably painted after Lebasque’s move to Le Cannet in 1924 but prior to his other works of the 1930s.

Of the nudes painted by Lebasque in the 1920s, Banner noted: “[these nudes were] the culmination of [Lebasque’s] intimist manner of painting–the celebration of the female form as fertile, warm, and inspiring…Matisse’s nudes of the same period, painted in his neighboring villa on the Riviera, share his rich decorative sense, but approach the nude in a more intellectual style, as opposed to Lebasque’s sensuous style. Lebasque painted his young models in poses of penetrating intimacy and subtle clarity.”[2]

Nu Couché has been held in a private collection in Montreal since its purchase from the Galerie Meissner in Zurich in 1960.

[1] Lebasque, exh. cat., Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, 1986, pp. 70-72.
[2] ibid.

ABOUT THE AUCTION

Headlining our major fall 2026 Canadian & International Fine Art auction are works by renowned Canadian artists Cornelius Krieghoff, Gordon Appelbe Smith, Frederick Arthur Verner, A.J. Casson, A.Y. Jackson, and William Kurelek, alongside international offerings by Edouard Cortès and Henri Lebasque. Also featured is a collection of works by Georges Mathieu, David Milne, and Eduardo Paolozzi from an Important Private Collection. Additional highlights include exceptional, unpublished works by Fernand Léger and Sir Alfred James Munnings.

Browse the gallery online.

On view at our Toronto gallery:

Saturday, November 14 from 12 pm to 4 pm
Sunday, November 15 from 12 pm to 4 pm
Monday, November 16 from 10 am to 5 pm
Tuesday, November 17 from 10 am to 7 pm
Wednesday, November 18 from 10 am to 5 pm
Or by appointment.

Please contact us for more information.