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Lot Essay
DATED CIRCA 1900, POSSIBLY 1903, BERGèRE COUSANT DANS LE PRé REPRESENTS A THEME WHICH HENRI MARTIN DEPICTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY AND WHICH REMAINED AN IMPORTANT MOTIF THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER. THE POPLARS IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE IMAGE CATEGORISE THE PAINTING AS BELONGING TO ONE OF MARTIN'S MOST RECOGNIZED ARTISTIC PERIODS.
IT WAS IN 1900 THAT MARTIN BOUGHT A LARGE 17TH CENTURY HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF LA BASTIDE-DU-VERT, IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE LOT, IN THE SOUTH WEST OF FRANCE. CALLED 'LE MANOIR', MARQUAYROL BECAME MARTIN'S FAVOURITE SUMMER RETREAT WHERE HE WOULD RETIRE FROM THE CITY BETWEEN THE MONTHS OF MAY AND NOVEMBER.
SET ON THE SIDE OF A HILL, MARQUAYROL OVERLOOKED THE VILLAGE AND THE VALLEYS WHERE TALL POPLARS STOOD DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE PRAIRIES. ON THE SIXTY ACRES OF LAND SURROUNDING MARQUAYROL, THE LOCAL PEASANTS AND SHEPHERDS WOULD COME AND REST WHILE SURVEYING THEIR FLOCK. THIS POETIC IMAGE CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF MARTIN WHO ADOPTED THE THEME AND PAINTED IT ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS DURING HIS FIRST FEW SUMMERS IN THE REGION.
THE PAINTING IS MOST PROBABLY A PRIVATE COMMISSION DUE TO ITS RATHER LARGE SIZE. IN THIS SAME PERIOD, MARTIN HAD ALREADY BEEN COMMISSIONED BY THE FRENCH GOVERNEMENT TO UNDERTAKE SEVERAL PROJECTS INCLUDING HIS MOST CELEBRATED WORK, THE TRIPTYCH FOR THE CAPITOLE OF TOULOUSE, EXECUTED IN 1903. IN THE FINAL PREPARATORY OIL STUDY FOR LES FAUCHEURS (SOLD IN THESE ROOMS, 24 JUNE 1997, LOT 146), ONE CAN RECOGNISE IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER A YOUNG PEASANT GIRL SITTING ON THE GRASS AS IN THE PRESENT WORK, WHILE ALL THE OTHER FIGURES ARE ACTIVE IN THEIR TASKS.
BERGèRE COUSANT DANS LE PRé IS A HARMONIOUS IMAGE OF SERENITY AND NATURE. PROBABLY PAINTED JUST BEFORE LES FAUCHEURS, MARTIN STILL STRONGLY PROJECTS A VISIBLE INFLUENCE OF POINTILLISM INTO HIS PAINTING. CERTAINLY INFLUENCED BY PISSARRO IN BOTH THEME AND TECHNIQUE, MARTIN ALSO SHOWS A STRONG INTEREST IN REPETITION AND GEOMETRIC PATTERNS REMINISCENT OF MONET'S POPLAR SERIES OF THE 1890S. LIKE MONET, MARTIN WAS FASCINATED BY THE INTERPLAY OF LIGHT ON OBJECTS. THIS IS MANIFESTED IN THE PRESENT WORK BY THE OVERALL DISINTERGRATION OF FORM AND COLOUR AND BY THE INTENSE LUMINOSITY PRESENT IN THE BACKGROUND. THE PLACEMENT OF SHADOWS IN THE FOREGROUND IS A CHARACTERISTIC WHICH APPEARS CONSISTENTLY IN MONET'S PAINTINGS AND WHICH MARTIN HAS HERE CONSCIOUSLY INCORPORATED SO AS TO LEAD THE VIEWER'S EYE INTO THE PAINTING AND UPWARDS TOWARDS THE LIGHT.
THERE EXIST STUDIES OF THE WORK, WHICH ALLOWS ONE TO CONCLUDE THAT THIS WAS AN IMAGE WHICH MARTIN HAD HAD IN MIND FOR SOME TIME. THE BEAUTY AND SERENITY OF NATURE WHICH HE LACKED IN PARIS, HE FOUND AND PORTRAYED IN HIS MARQUAYROL PAINTINGS. THE WOMAN DEPICTED IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE SERVANTS WHO WORKED AT THE HOUSE AND WHO WOULD OCCASIONALLY POSE FOR THE ARTIST. THIS PARTICULAR PAINTING SYMBOLISES MARTIN'S INTERPRETATION OF A TRADITIONAL BUCOLIC IDYLL IN A PERIOD IN WHICH MODERNITY AND TECHNOLOGY WERE AT THE FOREFRONT OF SOCIETY.
CYRILLE MARTIN HAS KINDLY CONFIRMED THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS WORK.
IT WAS IN 1900 THAT MARTIN BOUGHT A LARGE 17TH CENTURY HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF LA BASTIDE-DU-VERT, IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE LOT, IN THE SOUTH WEST OF FRANCE. CALLED 'LE MANOIR', MARQUAYROL BECAME MARTIN'S FAVOURITE SUMMER RETREAT WHERE HE WOULD RETIRE FROM THE CITY BETWEEN THE MONTHS OF MAY AND NOVEMBER.
SET ON THE SIDE OF A HILL, MARQUAYROL OVERLOOKED THE VILLAGE AND THE VALLEYS WHERE TALL POPLARS STOOD DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE PRAIRIES. ON THE SIXTY ACRES OF LAND SURROUNDING MARQUAYROL, THE LOCAL PEASANTS AND SHEPHERDS WOULD COME AND REST WHILE SURVEYING THEIR FLOCK. THIS POETIC IMAGE CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF MARTIN WHO ADOPTED THE THEME AND PAINTED IT ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS DURING HIS FIRST FEW SUMMERS IN THE REGION.
THE PAINTING IS MOST PROBABLY A PRIVATE COMMISSION DUE TO ITS RATHER LARGE SIZE. IN THIS SAME PERIOD, MARTIN HAD ALREADY BEEN COMMISSIONED BY THE FRENCH GOVERNEMENT TO UNDERTAKE SEVERAL PROJECTS INCLUDING HIS MOST CELEBRATED WORK, THE TRIPTYCH FOR THE CAPITOLE OF TOULOUSE, EXECUTED IN 1903. IN THE FINAL PREPARATORY OIL STUDY FOR LES FAUCHEURS (SOLD IN THESE ROOMS, 24 JUNE 1997, LOT 146), ONE CAN RECOGNISE IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER A YOUNG PEASANT GIRL SITTING ON THE GRASS AS IN THE PRESENT WORK, WHILE ALL THE OTHER FIGURES ARE ACTIVE IN THEIR TASKS.
BERGèRE COUSANT DANS LE PRé IS A HARMONIOUS IMAGE OF SERENITY AND NATURE. PROBABLY PAINTED JUST BEFORE LES FAUCHEURS, MARTIN STILL STRONGLY PROJECTS A VISIBLE INFLUENCE OF POINTILLISM INTO HIS PAINTING. CERTAINLY INFLUENCED BY PISSARRO IN BOTH THEME AND TECHNIQUE, MARTIN ALSO SHOWS A STRONG INTEREST IN REPETITION AND GEOMETRIC PATTERNS REMINISCENT OF MONET'S POPLAR SERIES OF THE 1890S. LIKE MONET, MARTIN WAS FASCINATED BY THE INTERPLAY OF LIGHT ON OBJECTS. THIS IS MANIFESTED IN THE PRESENT WORK BY THE OVERALL DISINTERGRATION OF FORM AND COLOUR AND BY THE INTENSE LUMINOSITY PRESENT IN THE BACKGROUND. THE PLACEMENT OF SHADOWS IN THE FOREGROUND IS A CHARACTERISTIC WHICH APPEARS CONSISTENTLY IN MONET'S PAINTINGS AND WHICH MARTIN HAS HERE CONSCIOUSLY INCORPORATED SO AS TO LEAD THE VIEWER'S EYE INTO THE PAINTING AND UPWARDS TOWARDS THE LIGHT.
THERE EXIST STUDIES OF THE WORK, WHICH ALLOWS ONE TO CONCLUDE THAT THIS WAS AN IMAGE WHICH MARTIN HAD HAD IN MIND FOR SOME TIME. THE BEAUTY AND SERENITY OF NATURE WHICH HE LACKED IN PARIS, HE FOUND AND PORTRAYED IN HIS MARQUAYROL PAINTINGS. THE WOMAN DEPICTED IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE SERVANTS WHO WORKED AT THE HOUSE AND WHO WOULD OCCASIONALLY POSE FOR THE ARTIST. THIS PARTICULAR PAINTING SYMBOLISES MARTIN'S INTERPRETATION OF A TRADITIONAL BUCOLIC IDYLL IN A PERIOD IN WHICH MODERNITY AND TECHNOLOGY WERE AT THE FOREFRONT OF SOCIETY.
CYRILLE MARTIN HAS KINDLY CONFIRMED THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS WORK.