Henri Le Sidaner (1862-1939)

Henri Le Sidaner's art was inextricably linked with his house and gardens at Gerberoy. Like Monet, who found limitless inspiration from his carefully constructed garden at Giverny, Le Sidaner devoted ceaseless attention to the grounds surrounding his home, a lovingly restored monastery. Taking his inspiration from the English tradition, Le Sidaner's garden à l'anglaise was created with a view to free harmony between the plants and buildings. The abundant flowers of the gardens wound their way around balustraded terraces, courtyards and specially built towers and pavilions.

The sense of silence and harmony in the present work are key elements in Le Sidaner's output. This sense of understated mystery and gentle poetry was Le Sidaner's artistic inheritance from his Symbolist-inspired early years; while the highly-keyed palette, subtly worked contrasts and painterly application of pigment owe a clear debt to Impressionism. This dual aspect of his art was touched on by his supporter Camille Mauclair, who wrote in 1901, 'born out of Impressionism, [Le Sidaner] is as much the son of Verlaine than of the snowscenes of Monet.'

In 1920, the year La table blanche, Gerberoy was painted, Gustave Kahn commented on Le Sidaner's paintings in the journal Le mercure de France: 'Les tableaux de M. Le Sidaner sont charmants. Ce n'est pas le jour, ce n'est pas le soir, ce n'est pas l'été, ce n'est pas l'automne, et c'est tout de même de la nature, mais vue à travers un tempérament. Zola n'admettait pas que sa définition fût appliquée ainsi; ce serait d'ailleurs la fausser. Disons la nature vue à travers une émotion qui prend si souvent la même forme qu'elle en devient habituelle et se superpose au tempérament jusqu'à en être l'expression. C'est d'ailleurs légitime et M. Le Sidaner est un très beau peintre.'