Henri Lebasque (September 25, 1865, Champigny Maine-et-Loire – August 7, 1937, Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes)

He received his primary education at the art school of the city of Angers, then at the age of twenty-one he became a student at the Colarossi Academy in Paris. While still a student, he took personal lessons from French figures of the progressive wave, including Leon Bonnat.

Lebasque painted very different canvases – still lifes, seascapes, landscapes, subjects, portraits – and all of them are imbued with the creator’s bright view of the world around him and kind attention to its inhabitants. In many cases, the technique of dominant color is used. It is not new, it was done in the Renaissance. But in these works the very method of subordinating the entire plot to one mood, expressed by the dominant tone, is a very fresh manner, which is still widely used in painting. In combination with academic methods of constructing plot lines, the master certainly reached those heights of perception that to this day put him on a par with the greatest representatives of world art.

The paintings of the famous artist are now considered to be among the pinnacles of the post-impressionist movement. His works adorn the Pantheon and the Theatre on the Champs Elysees, and sometimes appear at top auctions.