L'Escalier, Beauvais, circa 1900 by Henri Le Sidaner

Provenance:
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, no. 2130, 5 November 1900
Private Collection
Sotheby's, auction, London, 4 December 1968, lot 155
Private Collection, Montreal

Exhibited:
"Société nouvelle de peintres et de sculpteurs", Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, March 1901, no. 61

Literature:
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, "Le Sidaner: L'Œuvre peint et gravé", Paris, 1989, no. 96, reproduced page 73

Henri Le Sidaner was an Intimist painter with strong influences from both impressionism and pointillism, who sought to capture the effects of atmospheric light. He created an aura of mysticism with his use of subdued tones and dappled brushstrokes. In the following text provided by Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, the great-grandson of the artist and an expert on his work, he describes how Le Sidaner came to Beauvais and recounts the history of this painting:

“On his return from Bruges in May 1900, Le Sidaner met Rodin in Paris at the banquet given in his honour during the Universal Exhibition: 'Why do you go so far?' said the sculptor who advised his young comrade to go and visit the Oise. The latter was convinced and settled in Beauvais in the middle of the summer with Camille and little Louis: 'It is an enchanted country, by this extraordinary autumn,' he wrote to his friends, 'I work and I am happy having discovered a good retirement in a quiet and pretty provincial life.'

During the year spent in Beauvais, just before the discovery of Gerberoy, the artist affirmed the new direction of his art: contemplating sleeping cities where the beautiful traces of the past have been preserved. "L’Escalier" was painted in October in his studio in Beauvais, based on studies taken from the subject, as indicated by the traces of squares that can be found across the surface. As evidenced by the two silhouettes of passers-by in black mantises, the human figure has lost its place. From then on, it would only be evoked in his work.

Le Sidaner delivered his painting on 5 November, at the price of 500 francs, to his dealer Georges Petit, with whom he had a contract. His views of Beauvais and its surroundings, presented at the 1901 Salons in Paris, were well-received: 'This artist manages to make people feel silence,' wrote art critic and poet Émile Verhaeren. "L'Escalier" contributed to the triumph of the second exhibition of the Société nouvelle de peintres et de sculpteurs, which marked the end of the famous "Société Internationale". After 1900, the intimate current would, without saying its name, dominate the Belle Époque.”

We would like to thank Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner for his assistance with cataloguing this work. A certificate of authenticity signed by Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner accompanies this lot.