Versailles, View Of The Swiss Pond And The Orangery

Charles Henry Tenré (October 14, 1854 - Paris, January 29, 1926), View of the Swiss Pond and the Orangery of the Palace of Versailles, c. 1904, oil on canvas, 2.88 x 4.38 m These two large decorative panels are emblematic of Henry Tenré's art. The painter was fond of landscape painting and representations of royal palaces (Versailles, Fontainebleau), which he exhibited many times during his long career. Henry Tenré undertook a solid apprenticeship in painting. He attended the studios of Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre at the Académie Julian from 1875 to 1885, then trained with the multi-medal-winning landscape artist Edmond Yon. A member of the Salon des Artistes Français, he exhibited there from 1883 until his death. Henry Tenré is renowned for his skill in painting large decorative landscapes, intimate interior scenes (Jacques Doucet's Hôtel on Rue Spontini), theatrical performances, and society portraits (Princess Georges de Radziwill, Baroness Gustave de Rothschild, Mrs. H. Machiels, and Miss de Thézillat). The great variety of his painting was rewarded during his lifetime. He received an honorable mention for his participation in the 1891 Salon and a third-class medal for his contribution to the 1900 World's Fair. During this major event in his career, Henry Tenré was appointed special delegate of Turkey to the 1900 World's Fair. He also participated in the organization of a retrospective museum of furniture and costume at the Paris pavilion. Henry Tenré had already treated the Pièce d'eau des Suisses in a reduced format before making it the main element of his large decorative panel. It is entirely possible that the two panels present were the result of a commission following the exhibition of Decorative Artists to embellish a dining room or a state room. Unless it was the decoration of one of the painter's residences. He owned a luxurious private mansion in the 16th arrondissement (at 36 rue de Villejust), bought the Château de Ternay-le-Fleury in 1904 (future residence of Sacha Guitry), then moved to Versailles in 1913. The two decorative paintings, in their format and motif, are reminiscent of a wool and silk tapestry enhanced with gold, designed by Charles Le Brun and woven at the Manufacture des Gobelins, for King Louis XIV.