Henri Lebasque, The Bridge At The Quai d'Orsay, 1937, Ink On Paper

Henri Lebasque (1865–1937)
The Bridge at the Quai d'Orsay, 1937
Ink on paper, signed and inscribed “to my friend Daragnès” in the lower left corner
35 x 28 cm
Provenance: Jean-Gabriel Daragnès
Note: Jean-Gabriel Daragnès was the printer of the book "À la gloire de Paris" ("In Praise of Paris"), in which our drawing served as the model for the plate "The Bridge at the Quai d’Orsay", engraved by Daragnès after a drawing by Lebasque.

Henri Lebasque (1865-1937)

Henri Lebasque began his studies at the regional school of Fine Arts in Angers before moving to Paris, where he enrolled at the Académie Colarossi in 1886. For six years, he collaborated with Ferdinand Humbert on the frescoes of the Panthéon in Paris, exhibited at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français and the Salon des Indépendants, and formed close friendships with Maximilien Luce and Paul Signac. He met Impressionists, notably Camille Pissarro, whom he visited regularly until his death in 1903, and who had a profound influence on him.

Lebasque created sets for theaters and various Parisian venues. In 1917, he was one of the Painters to the Armies, along with Félix Vallotton. His fragile health prevented him from fighting on the front lines during the First World War, but he went nonetheless, capturing its desolation in several works. This painful experience was short-lived but left a lasting mark on his work. He now employed a freer and more flexible style, managing to incorporate his favorite models and motifs into landscapes full of harmony and poetry.

Henri Lebasque was made an officer of the Legion of Honour in 1925 and, after the dissolution of the Georges Petit gallery in 1927, refused to accept any further contracts with art dealers. He died on August 7, 1937, in Le Cannet.

His works are held in the museums of Lyon, Caen, Agen, Montpellier, and Roubaix, as well as at the Bemberg Foundation, the Musée d'Orsay, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Rijksmuseum, among others.