To understand why Henri le Sidaner (1862-1939) painted the way he did, it helps to consider that the formative influence of his youth was Symbolism. Impressionism, pointillism, intimism...all other 'isms' were absorbed through that filter in his work. At first glance, his paintings charm, but look longer and they reveal themselves as symbolically charged, every bit as much as Giorgio Morandi's airless arrangements of pottery. 
Because Le Sidaner died in July of 1939, it is easy to relegate his art to a golden age that never existed - at least not in isolation. He lived in Versailles, a suburb in 20th century Paris, but a country village when King Louis XIV moved his royal court there in the 17th century, thereby appropriating the name as a synonym for royal extravagance.
Paintings of the French Pavilion in the snow, the Music Pavilion, and the roses of the Gr
and Trianon at the Chateau de Versailles remind us that here is a place where no one lives. Lighted windows, doors that are open for no apparent reason, and footprints in the snow are ghostly remnants.
and Trianon at the Chateau de Versailles remind us that here is a place where no one lives. Lighted windows, doors that are open for no apparent reason, and footprints in the snow are ghostly remnants.
One wonders if Henri Le Sidaner and Lucien Levy-Dhurmer ever ran into each other while prowling the grounds of Versailles. The symbolism of its immense grandeur left to gather dust, its fountains turned off except on special occasions, its lighted windows perhaps just an opitcal illusion like a mirage, must have exerted a magnetic attraction on them. Photographer Deborah Turbeville's 1981 book Unseen Versailles pays an unacknowledged tribute to their works, although she portrayed the abandoned interiors. (In the forward, Turbeville credits her editor Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with giving her the idea for the book.) Remember how the Russian emigre Alexandre Benois envisioned a decrepit Louis XIV being wheeled among the parterres by a servant. (The Sun King's Promenade - posted here March 30, 2010).
Images:2. French Pavilion In the Snow-Versailles, 1916, Christies-Ltd. 3. The Music Pavilion At Versailles, 1930, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh.
4. Roses At The Grand Trianon, undated, Musee du Petit Palais, Paris.
5. Evening at Versailles, 1925, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris.
6. Le Pavillon Francais-Versailles, 1917.
7. Snow - Versailles, undated, Sotheby's.
2 comments:
Very interesting, Jane, to think of Levy-Dhurmer and le Sidaner prowling the grounds of Versailles like ghosts before their time, and investing the palace and its grounds with all the longing of a ghost for corporeal reality.
Neil, I do wonder if they were aware of each other's works. Versailles abandoned seems to exercise as much fascination as Versailles when it held court. Atget, the Lartigues, Francois-Marius Granet - and those come just off the top of my head. Not to mention the legion of amateurs who must also find it an attractive subject.
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