Note Type
Artist’s Intent NoteNote
"Having relocated with his family to a village near Versailles in 1914, Henri Le Sidaner developed an intimate awareness of the park’s expansive vistas, manicured gardens, and sprawling architecture, including the Grand Trianon Palace. Designed by Jules HardouinMansart in 1687 at the behest of King Louis XIV, at the center of the building’s pink colonnaded façade is a loggia, or sheltered walkway, linking the Palace’s east and west wings. Framed between two trees, Le Sidaner records the structure brilliantly illuminated by the snow-covered grounds. Together with works that feature the glow of oil lamps or the quiet radiance of moonlight, this painting demonstrates the artist’s perennial interest in capturing the atmospheric effects of uncommon light sources on historical subjects. For the rest of his life, Le Sidaner would paint the gardens of Versailles as passages to an enchanted world" (Impressionist Legacies 26).Note
Literature: Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Le Sidaner, L'oeuvre peint et gravé, Paris, 1989, p. 350, no. 1073, illustrated 