Henri Lebasque was a post-Impressionist painter from Champigné, born in 1865. He left his family to begin his studies at the School of Fine Arts in Angers before moving to Paris in 1886 to study at the Académie Colarossi. Two years after his arrival, he collaborated on frescoes for the Pantheon with Ferdinand Humbert. His admiration for the works of Pissarro and Renoir, whom he befriended, led him to create the first part of his work in the Post-Impressionist style.

Later, through his encounters with Luce and Signac, his style shifted for several years, adopting a more pointillist approach as he traveled extensively across France—from the Marne to Brittany, and from Normandy to the Vendée. However, it was the South of France, with its dazzling light, particularly around Sanary and Nice, that became his chosen home. Around 1900, his style turned toward Fauvism, a movement that deeply influenced this modern artist. He settled in Le Cannet, where he lived near Pierre Bonnard, and passed away there in 1937.

Lebasque is known for his vibrant palette, freshness, and subjects resembling genre scenes: women reading in gardens, children playing… These are often intimate, family scenes depicted in lush, green spaces. He also created ceramics with Rouault and Vallotton, as well as theater decorations, which further bolstered his reputation among Parisian galleries. Among them, the Eugène Druet gallery exhibited his compositions from 1922 to 1930.

Jacques Copeau, a prominent figure in art and theater criticism, said of his contemporary: “His palette is alive. It creates. Forms come to life in the light. The art of drawing, not servile but evocative, supports the colorist’s art, which is of the highest, most conscientious sincerity.”

Aguttes and its experts have successfully sold several works by Lebasque, who continues to achieve