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Lot Essay
Cyrille Martin has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
Born in Toulouse, Henri Martin found that he missed the light of the south when he moved to Paris. He would dream of his ideal house where he could sit and paint, a house which he described as 'une vielle habitation avec un toit Louis XIII et des tonnelles sans terres ou presque. Donc une maison plutôt placée sur un hauteur, assez vaste...l'entourage immédiat de la maison avec un jardin ou parc et de grands alentours avec de paysages que je puisse peindre' (exh. cat. Henri Martin 1860-1943, Cahors 1993, p. 98).
In 1900, at the age of 40, Martin purchased a large 17th Century house in the village of Labastide du Vert in the Lot in south-west France. Marquayrol became Martin's summer retreat and it is to here that he would retire from the city between the months of May and November. The house was set on the side of a hill and overlooked the village and the surrounding valley. On the sixty acres of land surrounding Marquayrol, the local peasants and shepherds would come and rest while attending to their flock. This poetic image captured Martin's imagination and he adopted the theme over the course of his first few summers in the region. Marquayrol allowed Martin access to the beauty and serenity of nature that he lacked in Paris and its peaceful surroundings provided him with both his subject and his inspiration.
Born in Toulouse, Henri Martin found that he missed the light of the south when he moved to Paris. He would dream of his ideal house where he could sit and paint, a house which he described as 'une vielle habitation avec un toit Louis XIII et des tonnelles sans terres ou presque. Donc une maison plutôt placée sur un hauteur, assez vaste...l'entourage immédiat de la maison avec un jardin ou parc et de grands alentours avec de paysages que je puisse peindre' (exh. cat. Henri Martin 1860-1943, Cahors 1993, p. 98).
In 1900, at the age of 40, Martin purchased a large 17th Century house in the village of Labastide du Vert in the Lot in south-west France. Marquayrol became Martin's summer retreat and it is to here that he would retire from the city between the months of May and November. The house was set on the side of a hill and overlooked the village and the surrounding valley. On the sixty acres of land surrounding Marquayrol, the local peasants and shepherds would come and rest while attending to their flock. This poetic image captured Martin's imagination and he adopted the theme over the course of his first few summers in the region. Marquayrol allowed Martin access to the beauty and serenity of nature that he lacked in Paris and its peaceful surroundings provided him with both his subject and his inspiration.