Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1545173
Bassin principal de Marquayrol avec l'Enfant a l'oie, c. 1905 Signed 'Henri Martin' lower left Oil on canvas 32 ¼ x 42 ½ in, 82 x 108 cm Provenance Hôtel Meurice, Paris, 22 June 1976, lot 126 Private Collection, New York Private Collection (gifted from the above c. 1990) Literature This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Marie-Anne Destrebecq-Martin, under number 12025 and dated 12 April 2025 In 1900 Martin bought Marquayrol, a large seventeenth-century villa which overlooked the village of Labastide-du-Vert in the Languedoc region of South-Western France, where he spent the summer months away from Paris. The acquisition of Marquayrol marked a turning point for Martin, who abandoned the figure to focus on landscape painting. Within his extensive garden he repeatedly painted his favourite elements including the terrace, the four pools and the iron gate. In Bassin principal de Marquayrol avec l'Enfant a l'oie he features the largest pool, closest to the house and which Martin's sons used to bathe in during the heat of the summer. He balances the geometric shapes of architecture with organic natural forms: the abundant wild greenery of the trees is contrasted with the manicured plants and striking red flowers cultivated in pots. The backdrop is enchantingly reflected in the central pool of water which lies still and endows the scene with a sense of tranquillity, harmony and order. It was at Marquayrol that Martin's unique style, a synthesis of Impressionism with Pointillist brushwork, reached its maturity. Like his close friends Le Sidaner and Laurent, he used Divisionist techniques to convey mood and the "diverse effects" of nature. With swift brushstrokes and diffusely painted canvases he captured the light and atmosphere of the South of France. Marquayrol was as important to Martin as the gardens at Giverny were to Monet. Taking nature as his new "model of beauty", he repeatedly painted his beloved garden using different colour schemes to characterise different times of day and year until the very end of his career. Henri Martin 1860-1943 Marquayrol, Les Jardins d'Henri Martin 12