Executed in pencil and stumping, with delicate touches of watercolour, this sheet brings together two studies of a reclining female model holding a parasol. With remarkable economy of means, Henri Lebasque captures the subtle variations of a relaxed pose: the supple line follows the curves of the body, while the softly worked shading suggests volume without ever weighing down the composition. A few coral accents, reserved for the parasols, enliven the sheet and lend this drawing its remarkable freshness.
Born in Champigné in 1865, Lebasque moved to Paris in 1885, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts before entering the studio of Léon Bonnat. He later assisted Ferdinand Humbert with the decoration of the Panthéon. Closely connected with the most progressive artistic circles of his time, Lebasque absorbed both the chromatic experiments of Seurat and Signac and the intimate sensibility of Bonnard and Vuillard. In 1903, he was among the founders of the Salon d’Automne, where he exhibited alongside Matisse, with whom he formed a lasting friendship.
Lebasque’s discovery of the light of southern France during a visit to Saint-Tropez in 1906 profoundly transformed his palette. From 1924, he settled in Le Cannet, near Bonnard, and increasingly devoted himself to family scenes, luminous interiors and female nudes, which he treated with a restrained yet palpable sensuality. The present sheet belongs fully to this world of tranquillity: rather than describing the model in painstaking detail, the artist sought to convey the atmosphere of a fleeting moment, the softness of light and the natural ease of the figure.
We have chosen a frame whose warm tones echo the delicate watercolour accents within the drawing. The coral-coloured mount, articulated with fine dark and gilt lines, subtly extends the hues of the parasols while preserving the lightness and intimacy of this refined work on paper.