HENRI LE SIDANER (1862-1939)
La rue au clair de lune, Villefranche-sur-Mer
Лот 502
15 00020 000
Signed ‘Le Sidaner’ (lower left)
Oil on board
40,6 x 26,8 cm
Executed in 1925
Provenance:
Louis Le Sidaner, the artist’s son from whom
purchased by Maurice Sternberg Galleries, Chicago
Purchased from the above by present owner
Christie’s auciton
Private European Collection
Literature:
Y. Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, L’oeuvre-peint
et grave, Paris, 1989, no 1194 (illustrated p.374) Painted in 1915, La rue au claire de lune,
Villefranche-sur-Mer (1915) is a picturesque work
of French post-impressionist artist Henri-Eugène
Le Sidaner (1862-1939). This painter spent a lot of
time in Villefranche-sur-mer, first in 1910 and then
on several occasions between 1924 and 1928, staying
at the Welcome Hotel. Seduced by Villefranche-sur-
Mer, Le Sidaner created a series of paintings inspired
by the tranquillity of this idyllic town of the Côte
d’Azur. La rue au claire de lune, Villefranche-sur-
Mer and the rest of the series were painted during his
intimist period, when the artist played with light in
tribute of the French countryside.
Born in Mauritius, he studied in Paris, where he
discovered impressionism and symbolism, the art
movements that played a big role in his glorious
phase of landscape painting. In the early 20’s, he
abandoned human figures to throw himself into a
neo-impressionist technique that merged together
sweet tones and mysterious atmospheres, where the
central theme were all kinds of light plays, especially
on water. When asked which artistic movement he
identified himself with, he simply answered “None.
But if you absolutely insist on categorizing me, I am
an Intimist.»