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Lot Essay
Henri Le Sidaner first visited Gerberoy in March 1901 and was immediately taken with its tranquillity, moving into a small rented cottage a month later. When he eventually acquired the property in 1904, he enlarged the buildings and improved the grounds, designing all aspects of the improvements himself. These enhancements, particularly those centred around the flower garden in the courtyard, provided Le Sidaner with a wealth of inspiration and a crucial source of new subject matter, in many ways reminiscent of Claude Monet's similarly comprehensive improvements undertaken at his home in Giverny from the 1890s.
From 1914 Gerberoy was to become chiefly a summer residence but Le Sidaner's deep affection for the place is witnessed by a speech he made in 1935 to mark thirty-four years of residency in the village: 'And when it is my time to go, I am sure I shall be seized with a vision of my modest cottage in Gerberoy, where trembling fingers will adorn the shutters with a single branch of greenery, enhanced by heavy roses, bringing us that elusive grace which characterises the blossoming of nature'.
From 1914 Gerberoy was to become chiefly a summer residence but Le Sidaner's deep affection for the place is witnessed by a speech he made in 1935 to mark thirty-four years of residency in the village: 'And when it is my time to go, I am sure I shall be seized with a vision of my modest cottage in Gerberoy, where trembling fingers will adorn the shutters with a single branch of greenery, enhanced by heavy roses, bringing us that elusive grace which characterises the blossoming of nature'.