The schoolboy

Description of the artwork

Henri Lebasque married Catherine Fisheren, known as Ella, in 1894. They had three children: Marthe (1895-1989), who would become a painter and sculptor; Hélène, known as Nono (born in 1901); and a son, Pierre (1912-1994). Part of his work was then devoted to depicting serene family scenes in natural settings. He frequently painted his young wife and children in the garden, on the terrace, or indoors.
In a painting entitled "Marthe and Pierre Lebasque in an Interior," dated around 1914, we see young Pierre, dressed in the same green outfit, approaching his older sister, seated in front of a tablecloth covered with the exact same pattern as in our painting. Here, the little boy is at the center of the composition, depicted as he himself devotes himself to drawing in his notebook.

Lisa A. Banner, in her book on the painter, writes on p. 20
"Lebasque's vision of life led him to focus on intimate domestic scenes and intimate interior compositions. He was hailed as the Painter of Joy and Light by art critics and Louvre curators at the end of his life. But Lebasque was primarily interested in the simple expression of a sensual surface... He succeeded in painting with intimacy the scenes and figures that were most dear to him, a style imbued with his personal taste for form and color, heightened by his contacts with his fellow painters Matisse and Bonnard, but which was uniquely his own."

Origin

Private Collection