Henri Lebasque (1865–1937)

Henri Lebasque was a French post-impressionist painter. He was born at Champigné (Maine-et-Loire). His work is represented in French museums, notably Angers, Geneva (Petit Palais), Lille(Musée des Beaux-Arts), Nantes, and Paris (Musée d’Orsay). Lebasque died at Cannet, Alpes Maritimes in 1937. 

He started his education at the École régionale des beaux-arts d’Angers, and moved to Paris in 1886. There, Lebasque started studying under Léon Bonnat, and assisted Ferdinand Humbert with the decorative murals at the Panthéon. Around this time, Lebasque met Camille Pissarro and Auguste Renoir, who later would have a large impact on his work. Lebasque’s vision was coloured by his contact with younger painters, especially Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, founders of the Nabis’ Group, who were the Intimists that first favoured the calm and quietude of domestic subject matter.

From his first acquaintance with Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, Lebasque learnt the significance of a colour theory which stressed the use of complementary colours in shading.