La table sur la terrasse au clair de lune by Henri Le Sidaner

Henri Le Sidaner
1862-1939 | French

La table sur la terrasse au clair de lune, Villefranche-sur-Mer
(The Table on the Terrace in the Moonlight, Villefranche-sur-Mer)

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

A master of Post-Impressionism, Henri Le Sidaner found acclaim for his dreamlike domestic scenes, particularly those bathed in the soft glow of twilight. Capturing the artist's signature subject of a mysterious table scape, La table sur la terrasse au clair de lune embodies what the artist's biographer called the magic of "the hour of Le Sidaner."

A leading figure in Intimism—a movement focused on the intense exploration of interiors and domesticity—Le Sidaner perfectly captures the essence of this style in this work. The central table is set for a meal on a balcony, overlooking a peaceful countryside vista. The empty chairs pulled back beckon the viewer to join this luminous scene, inviting them into a world of color and harmony. Unlike Impressionists and Post-Impressionists who focused on capturing fleeting moments through observation, Le Sidaner worked from memory. This allowed him to render the essence and emotional experience of a place, imbuing his mesmerizing works with a mystical quality.

When the artist discovered the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, where this work was painted, he was immediately taken with its steep streets, the citadel of Saint‑Elme and the shimmering harbor. He stayed there intermittently between 1924 and 1928, creating colorful canvases such as this one, devoted to the town's street, windows and views over the bay.

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 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, such as the Tate Modern, the Phillips Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Painted 1927

Canvas: 28” high x 35” wide (71.1 x 88.9 cm)
Frame: 41 3/4” high x 48 3/4” wide x 3” deep (106.1 x 123.8 x 7.6 cm)

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Provenance:
The artist through Georges Petit, Paris
The private collection of Andre Schoeller, Paris
Private Collection, Europe
Daphne Alzraki art gallery, 2007
Private collection, United States since 2008 until 2019
Private collection, United States

Literature:
Le Gaulois Artistique, 13 November, 1927
Le Nord Artistique et Littéraire, 15 November, 1927
Camille Mauclair, Le Sidaner, 1928, p. 209
Y. Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, L'oeuvre peint et gravé, Milan, 1989, no. 614 (illustrated)

Exhibited:
November 1927, Exposition Le Sidaner, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, no. 22