Two Studies of Cloud by Henri Martin

This rare double-sided oil on panel, probably painted during the summer of 1886, is an interesting testimony to the artist's style development. It presents two complementary paintings : on one side (probably the first to have been executed) "Pink-gold Clouds in Summer over the Hills of the South-West of France", on the other side "Stormy Sky". After the return from his trip to Italy in 1885, Henri Martin gradually moved away from academicism and symbolism to find his own style, working under the influence of Seurat and Pointillism.

1. 1885 - 1887, a turning point in the young artist's career

A French painter and figure of Postimpressionism, Henri Martin showed a talent for drawing from an early age. After working, as his parents wished, for a linen merchant , he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in his native Toulouse. He graduated at the age of nineteen, winning the Grand Prix and a scholarship. He then continued his apprenticeship at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under Jean-Paul Laurens. From 1880 to 1889, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, exhibiting works in the traditional spirit, executed using an academic technique.

In 1885, he won a travel grant that enabled him to visit Italy and study the primitives with Edmond Aman-Jean. His discovery of Mediterranean light, the Giotto's paintings and his encounter with Segantini had a major influence on his work. Through his friend Aman-Jean, who was close to Seurat, Henri Martin became interested in pointillist research and radically changed his technique. Our work, painted according to Madame Destrebecq-Martin around 1886, is an interesting example of the artist's search for greater freedom in his painting style.

At the 1889 Salon des Artistes Français, he exhibited "La Fête de la Fédération", a choppy, parallel brushstroke depiction of Lafayette taking the oath on the altar of the fatherland. This was the first time the painter dared to lighten his palette to such an extent, juxtaposing his colors in small, grainy heaps. From now on, he would use clear color scheme, decomposing tones to express the vibrations of light. Henri Martin also established himself as an outstanding decorator, with numerous public commissions . He gradually moved away from the Symbolist themes of his early years towards a style combining Fauvism and Pointillism.

Around 1890, he discovered the Quercy countryside and bought a house in La Bastide-du-Vert near Cahors. He stayed there for many years, painting rural and family scenes. In 1912, he bought a house in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the Lot department. Then, in 1923, he moved to Collioure on the Mediterranean coast. This region became a source of inspiration for many of his paintings.

Appointed Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur in 1914, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1917, in the painting section. Each of his solo exhibitions, particularly at the Galerie Georges Petit, was a triumph. The Musée Henri Martin in Cahors continues to honor his memory, with a permanent exhibition of some fifty of his paintings.

2. Description of the painting and related artworks

The small format of our work suggests that it was painted outdoors. In fact, it is easy to imagine that both sides of the same panel were painted on the same day, with the painter starting with the Pink-golden Clouds in the late afternoon light, before completing the Stormy Sky on the reverse as the storm approaches.

While the Pink-golden clouds are still executed in a more traditional manner, the Stormy Sky on the reverse is much more expressionistic: the three-dimensional nature of the cumulonimbus is strikingly evoked by the large impastos. This side of the panel seems highly characteristic of the researches of a young artist, who dares to use a freedom of touch on a small format that is hardly to be found in the rest of his work.

The hilly landscape at the foot of the Pink-golden clouds seems to us to be related to that of Les Errances du Berger (The Sheperd’s Wanderings), a painting dated 1885-1887, still influenced by Symbolism and recently sold at Sotheby's (last photo in the gallery).