Henri Lebasque
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Henri Lebasque (1865-1937) was born in 1865 at Champigné (Maine-et-Loire). He started his education at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d’Angers, and moved to Paris in 1886. Here, Lebasque started studying under Léon Bonnat, and assisted Humbert with the decorative murals at the Panthéon. Around this time, Lebasque met Camille Pissarro and Auguste Renoir, who later would have a large impact on his work.
Lebasque's vision was coloured by his contact with younger painters, especially Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, founders of the the Nabis and the Intimists who first favoured the calm and quietude of domestic subject matter. From his first acquaintance with Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, Lebasque learnt the significance of a colour theory which stressed the use of complementary colours in shading.
Lebasque was a founding member of the Salon d'Automne in 1903 with his friend Henri Matisse. Two years later a group of artists exhibited there including Georges Rouault, André Derain, Edouard Vuillard and Henri Matisse while keeping solid links with other artists such as Gustave Rouault, Raoul Dufy, Louis Valtat and especially Henri Manguin, who made him discover the south of France.
His time in South of France would lead to a radical transformation in Lebasque’s paintings, changing his colour palette forever. Other travels included the Vendée, Normandie and Brittany, although Lebasque would always prefer the small idyllic villages of the South of France.
Lebasque had some commercial success during his lifetime. He worked on the decorations at the theatre of the Champs-Elysées and of the Transatlantique sealiner.
Lebasque died at Cannet, Alpes Maritimes in 1937.
His work is represented in French museums, notably Angers, Geneva (Petit Palais), Lille (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Nantes and Paris (Musée d’Orsay) as well as many more around the world. Famed as a painter of 'joy and light', Lebasque is admired for the intimacy of his subject matter and his unique delight in colour and form.
