La table sous la tonnelle, Gerberoy by Henri Le Sidaner

Henri Le Sidaner
1862-1939 | French

La table sous la tonnelle, Gerberoy
(The Table under the Arbor, Gerberoy)

Signed "Le Sidaner" (lower left)
Oil on canvas

A master of Post-Impressionism, Henri Le Sidaner is celebrated for his luminous, dreamlike paintings that seem to glow from within. Within his extraordinary oeuvre, La table sous la tonnelle, Gerberoy stands firmly among his greatest masterpieces: an absolutely breathtaking vision of the artist’s most iconic subject—his beloved gardens and Temple of Love. Painted at the height of his career, this masterwork was an instant sensation and one that Le Sidaner cherished for the rest of his life.

This masterwork's beauty is immediate and stunning. Le Sidaner’s famed Temple of Love is bathed in the golden radiance of sunset, while climbing roses and lush greenery surround the scene in a brilliant haze of color. Every inch of the canvas seems to shimmer, as Le Sidaner’s passion for color reaches one of its fullest and most poetic expressions. The scene is utterly transformed into something intimate, luminous and almost otherworldly.

This was the world Le Sidaner had created for himself. He first discovered the quiet village of Gerberoy in 1901 on the recommendation of Auguste Rodin, and he was immediately captivated by the “haven of peace.” Three years later, he purchased a home there and began transforming its grounds into his own private paradise that would soon define his best works. At the heart of this world stood his Temple of Love, inspired by Marie Antoinette’s temple at Versailles. It became one of the most personal and significant motifs of his entire career, and this painting is one of its finest depictions.

La table sous la tonnelle, Gerberoy was recognized as a great masterpiece from the beginning. Le Sidaner’s gallerist, Georges Petit, paid 3,000 francs for the work—the highest price the artist had received that year. It then became the centerpiece of Le Sidaner’s next exhibition, where it was promptly acquired by an eager collector. Remarkably, fifteen years later, when the painting appeared at auction, Le Sidaner bought it back for himself. Loving the work enough to repurchase it, he kept this painting for the rest of his life in his personal collection.

Le Sidaner was born in 1862 in Port Louis, Mauritius, and his artistic career began at the École des Beaux-Arts under Alexandre Cabanel, but he found himself disenchanted with the academy. Le Sidaner relocated to the Étaples artist colony in 1885, where he discovered Impressionism and the plein air paintings of Monet. Eventually, he would go on to incorporate influences from Post-Impressionism, Pointillism and Symbolism into his masterful works and exhibit alongside important artists including Paul Signac and Henri Martin.

In 1930, Le Sidaner was honored with a Professorship at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and in 1937 he was named its President. He died in 1939 in Versailles, France, at the age of 76. His works are held in the permanent collections of prestigious museums around the world, including the Musée d'Orsay, the Phillips Collection, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Painted 1917

Canvas: 34 1/4” high x 45 1/4” wide (87 x 114.9 cm)
Frame: 47” high x 58” wide x 4” deep (119.4 x 147.3 x 10.2 cm)

View the Dossier

Provenance:
The artist
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, nos. 2603, 9544, acquired from the above
Private collection
Sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 19, 1932, no. 38
The artist, 1932–39, acquired from the above
By descent to the artist’s son, Louis Le Sidaner, 1939
Galerie Abels, Cologne, West Germany, 1962
Hammer Galleries, New York
Sale, Christie’s London, April 14, 1970, no. 11
Kaplan Gallery, London
Rutland Gallery, London
Sale, Christie’s London, December 3, 1984, no. 10
Galleries Maurice Sternberg, Chicago
Private collection
Thence by descent
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Literature:
Apollo (1972)
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner: L’oeuvre peint et gravé (France: Éditions André Sauret, 1989), p. 153, no. 377 illustrated
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Henri Le Sidaner: Paysages Intimes (2013), p. 228 illustrated
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Gerberoy par Henri Le Sidaner (2023), p. 40 illustrated
Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Henri Martin—Henri Le Sidaner, deux talents fraternels (2024), p. 108 illustrated

Exhibited:
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, March 1917, Peintures et Sculptures (ex-Société Nouvelle), no. 44
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 15–December 6, 1936, 1936 International Exhibition of Paintings
Galerie Charpentier, Paris, February–March 1939, Exposition Le Sidaner, no. 6
Musée Galleria, Paris, April 1949, Rétrospective Henri Le Sidaner, no. 31
Galerie de l’Art Belge, Brussels, Belgium, April 1951, Rétrospective Henri Le Sidaner, no. 32
Galerie Lorenceau, Paris, 1952, Tables et fenêtres par Henri Le Sidaner, no. 21
Galerie Abels, Cologne, West Germany, 1962, Französische postimpressionistische Gemälde, no. 43
Kaplan Gallery, London, 1966, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings, no. 54
Galleries Maurice Sternberg, Chicago, 1976, Masters of the 19th and 20th Centuries, no. 1