Henri Martin

Private Collection, France

The canvas has not been lined. There are no signs of retouching visible under UV light. There are fine lines of craquelure in places. The work is in vey good overall condition.
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After searching for the ideal house for almost ten years, Martin finally acquired Marquayrol in 1900, a beautiful mansion overlooking Labastide-du-Vert, near Cahors, in South-West France. The house and the region became his main sources of inspiration and deeply influenced his style. It was here that the artist found the important southern light which stimulated and fulfilled his artistic needs. Claude Juskiewenski has suggested that 'this move to the Lot at the age of forty marks a decisive turning point in his artistic output. Muses and lyres disappear from his canvases and he dares to confront daily the light of the south' (Claude Juskiewenski, Henri Martin 1860-1943 (exhibition catalogue), Cahors & Toulouse, 1993, p. 98).

The present work is a particularly fine example of Martin's mature style. The famous pergola, with its abundant foliage, provides the focus of the composition. The house is set high on the hill above the village of Labastide-du-Vert, situated here to the right. The rich colours in this painting betray all the intensity of the southern light that Martin so longed for in his work. Judging by the direction of the long purple shadows this scene undoubtedly was painted on a late summer afternoon.

La tonelle de l'angle nord-ouest du parc de Marquayrol is a superb example of Martin's signature style of dynamic brushwork suspended within a rigorously structured composition. As Martin's son and fellow artist, Jac Martin-Ferrières, noted 'Henri Martin's palette is enchanting. Many different combinations of colours are juxtaposed to create a lush harmony [...] and it is much more difficult to achieve beautiful colour combinations when representing nature than to simply assemble some pretty colours while representing nothing. Herein lies the gift of the great Impressionists and that is why there are so few' (Jacques Martin-Ferrières, Henri Martin, Paris, 1967, p. 42).