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Lot Essay
Denise Bazetoux has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
In 1906 the art critic Paul Jamot commended Lebasque as being "the most frankly 'Impressionist'" of the exhibitors in the Salon that year (Gazette des Beaux Arts, May 1906, p. 382). Painted in 1906-1907, Saint-Tropez, deux jeunes filles à la fontaine celebrates Lebasque's ability to blend Impressionism and the more modern technique of Divisionism in his work. While his early training had been in the atelier of the academic painter Leon Bonnat, Lebasque's biographer Paul Vitry credits Camille Pissarro as Lebasque's first teacher. This modern adaptation of Arcadian imagery shows Lebasque adapting the intimisme of his domestic interiors to plein-air painting. "There is a sense of calm infused in Lebasque's paintings which celebrates the fullness and richness of life" (L.A. Banner, Lebasque, exh. cat., Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco. 1986, p. 12). Working with vigorous brushwork and radiant palette Lebasque captures the play of light as it filters through the overhanging branches and casts shadows on the two nymph-like figures reposing by the fountain.
In 1906 the art critic Paul Jamot commended Lebasque as being "the most frankly 'Impressionist'" of the exhibitors in the Salon that year (Gazette des Beaux Arts, May 1906, p. 382). Painted in 1906-1907, Saint-Tropez, deux jeunes filles à la fontaine celebrates Lebasque's ability to blend Impressionism and the more modern technique of Divisionism in his work. While his early training had been in the atelier of the academic painter Leon Bonnat, Lebasque's biographer Paul Vitry credits Camille Pissarro as Lebasque's first teacher. This modern adaptation of Arcadian imagery shows Lebasque adapting the intimisme of his domestic interiors to plein-air painting. "There is a sense of calm infused in Lebasque's paintings which celebrates the fullness and richness of life" (L.A. Banner, Lebasque, exh. cat., Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco. 1986, p. 12). Working with vigorous brushwork and radiant palette Lebasque captures the play of light as it filters through the overhanging branches and casts shadows on the two nymph-like figures reposing by the fountain.