TRINITY HOUSE

Welcome Steven and I are delighted to present this small catalogue of exceptional works of art.

Within these pages are ten paintings by some of the western worlds most respected artists from the late 19th and early 20th Century. It was an unrivalled age for art and culture, particularly in France.

The stability enjoyed throughout Europe during the peaceful years of 1871 - 1914 created an environment within which national economies, cultures and society could flourish. The ‘belle époque’ is synonymous with the social culture of France at the time and it had the effect of drawing to it and inspiring some of the great painters of the age.

We are excited to present works for sale by some of those artists. Within this catalogue are fine paintings by Boudin, Helleu, Israëls, Martin, Le Sidaner, Lebasque, Renoir, Van Dongen, Singer Sargent and Lhermitte. Please enjoy and we would welcome any enquiries through our gallery or at any of the international fine art fairs we exhibit at; both in Europe and America.

Simon Shore Director

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Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on canvas.

21.75 x 35.50 inches.

Signed and dated.

E. Boudin 93 Golfe Juan-Avil.

Eugène Boudin (French 1824 - 1898) Golfe Juan l’escadre dans la baie Born in Trouville, France, Eugène Boudin is mostly known for his seascapes. In 1835 his family moved to Le Havre, where Boudin began working as an assistant stationer and frame maker for his father’s business.

He went on to open his own shop and exhibited the paintings of local artists Constant Troyon and Jean-François Millet. It was they, along with Jean-Baptiste Isabey and Thomas Couture who encouraged young Boudin to follow an artistic career, and at 22 years he began painting full-time, travelling to Paris and then through Flanders. In 1850 he earned a scholarship, residing in Paris, although he often returned to paint in Normandy and from 1855, in Brittany.

In 1857 Claude Monet worked with Boudin for several months in his studio. The two remained lifelong friends, with Monet later paying tribute to Boudin’s early influence. Boudin joined Monet and his friends in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, but never considered himself a radical or innovator. He debuted at the Paris Salon in 1859 receiving a third place medal at the Paris Salon of 1881, and a gold medal at the 1889 Exposition Universelle. In 1892 he was made a Knight of the Légion d’honneur.

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Boudin claimed “everything that is painted directly and on the spot has always a strength, a power, a vivacity of touch which one cannot recover in the studio.” Eventually Boudin would paint almost entirely en plein air, saying that one brushstroke placed outdoors was of more value than two days spent in the studio. His work foreshadowed impressionist concerns with atmosphere and the changing effects of weather and light. Corot called him “the king of the skies.”

Golfe Juan l’escadre dans la baie, was painted in 1893, when he had moved to the South of France for his health. Painted en plein air, the view looks south west toward Cannes and is a serene depiction of the setting sun in a tranquil sky. The grand master of French art passed away five years later.

Provenance: Wildenstein & Co., New York.

Literature: This painting is listed as no. 3073 in vol. 3 of Robert Schmit’s Catalogue Raisonné of the artists work.

Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on canvas.

21.25 x 28.75 inches.

Signed.

Paul Cesar Helleu (French 1859 - 1927) Madame Helleu à Fladbury chez John Singer Sargent Helleu along with Sargent, his close friend, studied under Jean Leon Gerome at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris. During this period Helleu met and fell very much in love with Alice Guerin who was only fourteen years old, and whom he later married when she was sixteen.

This intimate portrait of his wife, Alice was painted during the summer of 1889 at John Singer Sargent’s house at Fladbury, Worcestershire, at a time when both Helleu and Sargent, were experimenting in Impressionism.

During this same summer, Sargent completed, probably the best known of the Fladbury pictures, Paul Helleu Sketching with His Wife (now in the Brooklyn Museum, New York). In Patricia Hill’s book John Singer Sargent, New York, 1987 William H. Gerdts writes in his essay entitled The Arch Apostle of the Dab-and-spot School, John Singer Sargent as an Impressionist, p. 131: “Finally, Paul Helleu sketching must be seen as a further step in Sargent’s development of the theme of out-door- painting.

Helleu’s canvas is turned away from the spectator, just as it had been in Dennis Bunker Painting. But whereas Bunker was shown ruminating, away from his easel, Helleu is busily at work, and presumably confidently so. The subject he paints is of no concern nor does the spectator have a view of the scene which might be serving Helleu for his subject”. What is certain is that it is an outdoor view, immediately recorded. Moreover,

Helleu, was first and foremost a portrait painter, and by definition a portraitist of studio conceptions.

As Helleu’s success as a society portraitist increased he was able to indulge his love of yachts and sailing which he had inherited from his father, a naval officer. He spent his summers at Deauville or Cowes mixing with both English and French Society which only served to increase his popularity. His wife enjoyed entertaining on their boat L’Etoile and Helleu painted many canvasses of life on board and other harbour scenes.

Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Paul Helleu, 1931, No 32. Dieppe, Musés de Dieppe, Paul Helleu, 1962, No 6. Osaka, Tokyo, Kitakyushu, Women of Fashion, French and American Images of Leisure, 1880 - 1920, 1994, No 17, illustrated in the catalogue. London, Barbican Art Gallery, Impressionism in Britain, 1995, No 97, illustrated in the catalogue.

Provenance: John Singer Sargent, Paul Helleu, Madame Paul Helleu, Mrs. CD HowardJohnston, the artist’s daughter, Richard Green, London, Private Collection, New York, acquired from above.

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Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on panel.

8 x 6 inches.

Signed.

Isaac Israëls (Dutch 1865 - 1934) Pink Roses The son of the painter Jozef Israëls, Isaac Israëls developed an interest in literature, travel and painting as a child. Between 1878 and 1880 he studied at the Academy in The Hague. In 1881, at the age of 16 years, he painted a picture which was purchased, before it was finished by the artist and collector Hendrik Willem Mesdag.

Between 1903 and 1923 Israëls spent most of his time in Paris and London, and in 1923 he returned to his parent’s home in The Hague, where his father’s old studio became his new workplace. There, until his death, he produced his impressionist paintings with their bright and brilliant colours. (source: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam).

In 1886 Israëls moved to Amsterdam, and studied at the Amsterdam Academy of Art where he stayed for one year. He would often spend the summer months with his father in Scheveningen, painting many colourful seaside scenes, illustrating his fascination of the changeable light created by the sun and sea.

Provenance: Private collection, Amsterdam.

Israëls was a close friend of George Hendrik Breitner and the two artists would work to capture the fleeting moments of everyday life in Amsterdam. They would use abruptly truncated figures, to obtain that ‘snapshot’ feeling.

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Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on canvas.

31 x 41 inches.

Signed.

Henri Martin (French 1860 - 1943) Le Jardin de Fleur Henri Martin was born in Toulouse in 1860. His early works were devoted to poetic themes reflecting his training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse. After winning the Grand Prix he moved to Paris in 1879 to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Jean-Paul Laurens. Martin exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francais in Paris from 1880, winning a medal at the 1883 Salon.

every single detail of the house and gardens - the round pool and its statue, the vine covered arbors on the terrace, the pergola and the vineyard.

A visit to Italy in 1885 brought a new lyrical freedom to his work, and upon his return to Paris in 1889, he began experimenting with pointillism.

Provenance: Private Collection, United States of America.

Marquayrol remained Martin’s connection with nature and light for more than forty years, providing him with both his subject matter and his inspiration.

In 1900 he purchased the property of Marquayrol in the village of Labastide du Vert in the Lot Valley in the south west of France, as a summer retreat. He began painting almost exclusively in the countryside around his house, which was set on a hillside overlooking the village and surrounding valley. He indulged himself in the beauty and serenity of nature that these peaceful surroundings offered; they became Martin’s preferred subject matter and recurring themes in his work; he portrayed

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Medium: Size: Circa:

Oil on canvas.

23.25 x 31.50 inches.

1925-1930.

Henri Eugene Augustin Le Sidaner (French 1862 - 1939) Le Jardin blanc, au Clair de Lune, Gerberoy Le Sidaner travelled extensively throughout his life, visiting Holland, Belgium, Venice, London and New York; he also moved constantly throughout France.

In 1900 he visited the tiny village of Gerberoy (Seine et Oise, north of Paris) where he later bought the house which became the inspiration for many of his paintings. Le Jardin blanc, au Clair de Lune, Gerberoy is one such example. Set in his beloved garden, the scene captures perfectly the tranquillity of dusk. These highly regarded works from 1900 until the outbreak of war in 1914, portray an intimate understanding of quiet and solitude.

Although the work of Henri Le Sidaner appears to be impervious to the artistic changes taking place at the beginning of the twentieth century he was not totally unaffected by the development of Impressionism and Neo-impressionism.

His work is very much in the realist style but at the same time evocative and poetic, it combines a dreamy quality with a technical expertise and his

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atmospheric paintings, whether they be landscapes or still lifes, are symptomatic of his unique personal vision.

He exhibited at the Paris Salon, the Galeries Georges Petit in Paris and the Goupil Gallery in London.

Provenance: Bernard-Joseph Artigue, Blaye-the-Mines. (acquired from artist before 1936).

Then by descent to Madame Vargas, Toulouse.

Literature: Included in the supplement for the Catalogue RaisonnÊ Le Sidaner-l’Oeuvre peint et grave by Yann farinaux-Le Sidaner.

Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on canvas.

23 x 28 inches.

Signed and dated 1907.

Henri Baptiste Lebasque (French 1865 - 1937) Saint Tropez, Deux Enfants au Bord de L’eau Born in Champigné, Lebasque went to Paris in 1885 and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1888 for a period of six years he worked in collaboration with Humbert on the frescoes at le Panthéon, Paris.

It was his discovery of the joy, light and landscape of the South of France and the French Riviera in 1906, which gave Lebasque the independence to express himself freely in his work, changing his colour palette forever.

This is illustrated through his use of colour and careful consideration of his subject matter and the portrayal and intimacy of it.

Painted in 1907 in St. Tropez, Deux Enfants au Bord de L’eau translates this impact of the South of France on Lebasque’s extraordinary palette.

His daughter Marthe recalled his discovery of the Midi, “It was his friend Henri Manguin who advised him to go there, it was there that my father had the revelation that he was fascinated by the landscapes and the atmosphere that prevailed.”1.

this painting. Marthe later said of the artist dubbed ‘the painter of joy and light’, “He had a happy disposition, he was content in the midst of his family. He was happy about painting . . . He adored us forming a happy image. He felt that very strongly, and conveyed that image with such strength in his paintings.”2.

Henri Lebasque died in Le Cannet in 1937.

1. D. Appoline, Interview with Madame Marthe Carlos-Reymond, née Lebasque, Nice, May 1985.

2 Quoted in ex cat Lebasque 1865-1937, San Francisco, 1986, p 113.

Provenance: Galeries Georges Petit, Paris.

Private collection 16th October 1920.

Daughter Marthe and son Pierre are Lebasque’s favorite models in his sunny landscapes, and he expertly catches a glimpse of their daily life in

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Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on canvas.

12.50 x 10.25 inches.

Signed and dated 1905.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French 1841 - 1919) Coco au Ruban Rose Renoir was sixty years old when his third son, Claude was born on August 4, 1901. To the elderly artist the birth of Claude, called “Coco” by his parents, was an affirmation of life, and, as Jean Renoir later recalled, the blond child would become “one of the most prolific inspirations my father ever had” (Jean Renoir, “Pierre-Auguste, mon pere, Paris, 1981”, quoted in Colin B. Bailey, Renoir’s Portraits Impressions of an Age (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1997-98, p.236).

This particular work is carefully executed with precise strokes of richly-hued pigment and subtle washed of colour. Renoir’s portraits of Coco document the growth of the boy shortly after his birth through early adulthood and are a testament to the bond of father and son.

There are a number of portraits in museums and private collections the world over, but this portrait is of particular historic and aesthetic interest due to the intensity of the child’s eyes staring directly at the viewer completely captivating the admirer. Few of the early portraits of Renoir’s children show the child gazing directly at the viewer especially with such loving intensity as in this masterpiece.

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Literature: Ambroise Vollard, Tableaux, Pastels et Dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paris 1918 Vol. 1, no 237, illustrated.

Provenance: Ambroise Vollard, Paris.

Galerie Tanner, Zurich.

Private Collection, Switzerland. (sold Sotheby’s London, December 4 1990, lot 4).

Sam Porter Fine Arts, Great Neck, New York.

The Estates of Murray and Irene Pergament.

Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on panel.

18 x 24 inches.

Signed within painting (centre of work).

Kees van Dongen (Dutch 1877 - 1968) Les Chrysanthèmes devant une vue de Montmartre Kees van Dongen was born in 1877, in Delfshaven near Rotterdam.

Inspired by the Impressionists and influenced by their style, he began his studies at the Academy of Rotterdam, although did not complete them.

Provenance: Collection Statathos, Cannes.

Collection Charmolue - Château Montrose Saint Estèphe.

Van Dongen arrived in Paris in 1897, with his official entry into the Paris art scene coming in 1904, when an abundance of his paintings were exhibited at Vollard’s gallery, the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon d’Automne and Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in 1908, from which he gained a seven year contract.

Kees van Dongen, certificat du Wildenstein Institute du 16 janvier 2007 Ref : 07.01.15.10205.2948.

Van Dongen’s use of bold colour and harsher, more brutal tones ultimately set him apart. Unsurprisingly, the German Expressionists appreciated his daring style; Van Dongen’s paintings were exhibited at the Flechtheim gallery in Dusseldorf in 1908, and Pechstein enthusiastically invited him to participate in an event of the Brücke group.

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Medium: Size: Details:

Oil on canvas.

20 x 16 inches.

Inscribed, upper left: to my friend Mrs Branson/J.S. Sargent.

John Singer Sargent (American 1856 - 1925) Head of a Woman with Gold Earrings John Singer Sargent was born in Florence to expatriate American parents from Boston. He received formal artistic training from the age of twelve, subsequently studying in Paris with Carolus-Duran and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1877.

Sargent’s first major success at the Royal Academy came in 1887, with the Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, a large piece, painted on site, of two young girls lighting lanterns in an English garden here in Broadway, the other end of the High Street from Trinity House. The painting was immediately purchased by the Tate Gallery.

The model in this particular oil study is dressed rather theatrically in a loose robe, an exotic oriental hat with gold bands and a red top, and large gold earrings with coral drops. With her hand flung across her chest, the model looks as if she is playing a part.

This painting was consigned for sale in June 1926 to Christie’s, London, by Mrs. Juliet Branson (1851-1938), to whom the picture is inscribed. The widow of a solicitor, Charles Edward Branson, living in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, Mrs. Branson was killed in a motor accident (information

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from Marcus Ormond). It is not known how she came into possession of the painting.

The buyer of Head of a Woman with Gold Earrings at the 1926 sale is given as ‘Cintas’, almost certainly Oscar B. Citas (1887-1957), a Cuban sugar and railroad magnate, sometime ambassador to the U.S. (1932-34), and art collector. He established the Cintas Foundation in New York shortly before his death, to foster art and to provide fellowships for Cuban artists. His collection of paintings was divided between Cuba and New York. Fidel Castro nationalized the first, and eventually sold it off, and the second went to the foundation. A sale of Cintas’s old masters was held at Parke-Bernet, New York, 1 May 1963, to raise funds for the foundation; this included works by, or attributed to, Bellini, Bronzino, Frans Hals, El Greco, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.

Extracted from John Singer Sargent, Complete Paintings: Volume IV, by Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, pg. 49, ©2006 Yale University.

Provenance: Private collection

Medium: Size: Details:

Pastel on paper mounted on canvas.

21.25 x 25.50 inches.

Signed.

Léon Augustin Lhermitte (French 1844 - 1925) Les Lavandières A realist artist whose primary subject matter was of rural scenes depicting the peasant worker. Lhermitte gained recognition following his show at the Paris Salon in 1864. His many awards include the French Legion of Honour (1884) and the Grand Prize at the Exposition Universelle in 1889.

Although the location of this particular work of the French countryside is unknown, it can be located within one of Lhermitte’s preferred themes: that of rustic washerwomen along the French river banks. Lhermitte was deeply rooted in the traditions of both the Barbizon group of artists as well as the French realists, however, his progressive techniques, such as his execution of pastels, set him apart. The artist, utilising the complex quality of the pastel medium, balances an adept attention to detail with the atmospheric effects of light and colour inherent in the unadulterated French countryside. This fascination with light and colour was later taken up by the Impressionists and whose influence can be seen in Lhermitte’s work after 1900.

Vincent Van Gogh was so enamoured by Lhermitte’s compositions in pastels that the Dutchman wrote: ‘If every month Le Monde Illustré published one of his compositions . . . it would be a great pleasure for me to be able to follow it. It is certain that for years I have not seen anything as beautiful as a rural scene by Lhermitte . . .’

Provenance: Private European Collection.

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Page 2

Eugène Boudin

3

Paul Cesar Helleu

4

Isaac Israëls

5

Henri Martin

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Henri Eugene Augustin Le Sidaner

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Henri Baptiste Lebasque

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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Kees van Dongen

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John Singer Sargent

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Léon Augustin Lhermitte

Trinity House Paintings Ltd. 67 High Street Broadway Worcestershire WR12 7DP Telephone: +44 (0) 1386 859329 Facsimile: +44 (0) 1386 859298 Email: art@trinityhousepaintings.com Website: www.trinityhousepaintings.com