Henri Le Sidaner - LA TABLE DEVANT LA FENÊTRE, NEIGE
Henri Le Sidaner
1862 - 1939
LA TABLE DEVANT LA FENÊTRE, NEIGE
Signed Le Sidaner (lower right)
Oil on canvas
36 1/2 by 29 in.
92.7 by 73.6 cm
Painted in Versailles in 1937
Oil on canvas
36 1/2 by 29 in.
92.7 by 73.6 cm
Painted in Versailles in 1937
Le Sidaner developed his distinctive visual language in Paris during the 1890s, under the influence of Symbolism. The fin-de-siècle mood of Maurice Denis, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer and Pierre Bonnard set the poetic tone for his body of work. On a formal level, Le Sidaner found a suitably harmonious treatment for his compositions with the Post-Impressionist technique of lively, divided brushwork.
Epitomizing Le Sidaner's skillful play with light and color, La Table devant la fenêtre, neige is an intimate portrayal of a simple table-setting before a window, through which we observe the quiet wintry neighborhood of Versailles as dusk settles. A small vase of flowers, a teapot and an abandoned napkin expertly rendered with delicate daubs of pastel tones reflect the shimmer of the snow-laden street outside while the illumination of the lamps in the neighbors’ windows awakens the scene to create an effect of striking luminosity; one can feel the delicate warmth emanating from the interiors.
Le Sidaner's sensitivity to quiet and poetic beauty was soon recognized by his contemporaries. As Paul Signac noted, "His entire work is influenced by a taste for tender, soft and silent atmospheres. Gradually, he even went so far as to eliminate from his paintings all human figures, as if he feared that the slightest human presence might disturb their muffled silence" (quoted in Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, op. cit., p. 31). Instead the artist focused on the architectural and domestic environment that people create for themselves.
Epitomizing Le Sidaner's skillful play with light and color, La Table devant la fenêtre, neige is an intimate portrayal of a simple table-setting before a window, through which we observe the quiet wintry neighborhood of Versailles as dusk settles. A small vase of flowers, a teapot and an abandoned napkin expertly rendered with delicate daubs of pastel tones reflect the shimmer of the snow-laden street outside while the illumination of the lamps in the neighbors’ windows awakens the scene to create an effect of striking luminosity; one can feel the delicate warmth emanating from the interiors.
Le Sidaner's sensitivity to quiet and poetic beauty was soon recognized by his contemporaries. As Paul Signac noted, "His entire work is influenced by a taste for tender, soft and silent atmospheres. Gradually, he even went so far as to eliminate from his paintings all human figures, as if he feared that the slightest human presence might disturb their muffled silence" (quoted in Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, op. cit., p. 31). Instead the artist focused on the architectural and domestic environment that people create for themselves.
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