Henry Ottman

With Pucci, Brussels;

Private collection, France.

Henri Ottmann was active in Brussels in the early twentieth century. He took part in the Salon de La Libre Esthétique, where notably in 1903 he showed three views of the Gare du Luxembourg, painted in different weather conditions: wind, ice (gel) and fog (brume). Another view of the same station at night (gare la nuit), from the collection of Sir Sean Connery, was sold at Sotheby's, New York, on 8 November 2006, lot 241, reaching the world record price for the artist.

In this charming, intimate painting, Ottman draws the viewer into a middle class salon where a private concert is taking place. The postures of the other viewers in the composition are an invitation to share the calm contemplation of this moment of suspended time. The artist’s soft, pastel palette is perfectly consistent with the peaceful scene, reflecting the influence of the early Impressionists, especially Renoir and Monet, on the artist.