Henri HUKLENBROK (1871-1942) Garden of the artist... Lot 44

Henri HUKLENBROK (1871-1942) Garden of the artist quai de Caumont in La Bouille (Seine-Maritime) Circa 1901-1903 Oil on canvas signed lower right H. 114,5 cm / L. 89 cm H. 135 cm / W. 110 cm (with frame) Expert : SASU Expertises Tellier, Paris, Marc-Henri TELLIER, member of the CEFA Somewhat forgotten artist, Henri Hucklenbroich known as Huklenbrok (1871-1942) is however a legendary character in the history of Belgian painting. A close friend of Henri Evenepoel (1872-1899) and Matisse, whom he met in Paris in 1895, the three of them quickly became inseparable, travelling throughout France and working in Belle-Ile-en-Mer. By this time Huklenbrok was a student of Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian "but he was already by instinct and inclination an honorary student of Moreau". A fourth Henri must be mentioned as having been a close friend of Huklenbrok in the 1890s: Henry de Groux (1866-1930). A symbolist artist, he was the best known of the four at that time. "Both he and Huklenbrok were young iconoclasts with a typically Nordic temperament, firmly opposed on the one hand to academicism and on the other to everything that had to do with pure aesthetics. ...] Huklenbrok stuck to traditional subjects - Dutch or Belgian landscapes or studies of figures - treated in a range of ugly mauves and purples that Evenepoel, Matisse's friend, found obscene. ...] He was not to be outdone when it came to competing with other artists of his generation, even Evenepoel admitted that compared to Huklenbrok's work, his own works were truly old world. In December 1896, Evenepoel and Huklenbrok returned to Brussels. In 1897 the latter visited the Netherlands and exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, as well as the following year. In November 1899, Evenepoel and Huklenbrok exhibited together at the Cercle Artistique et Littéraire in Brussels. Considered a promising talent, Evenepoel unfortunately died the following month. Huklenbrok, who presented 45 works in this joint exhibition, seems not to have been understood. Shortly afterwards, Huklenbrok was invited by Octave Maus to participate in the Exposition de la Libre Esthétique, an event in which he took part three years in a row (an exception was made to the rules). In spite of the limited success of Visite Automnale, Huklenbrok succeeded in sending works to all the important Belgian Salons as an artist 'ahead of his time'. In 1900 he married Milly Margreitter (?-1931) and had three children, two girls and a boy, Henriette, Elisabeth and Christian, who were born in 1901, 1902 and 1903 respectively. In a letter from La Bouille to Octave Maus dated February 8, 1901, Huklenbrok describes the place: "If you know the area between Rouen and Le Havre (I mean the Seine!) you may have noticed the little port of La Bouille situated in one of the prettiest loops of the river (sic) and we have settled in a pretty little pink and white house surrounded by greenery and cliffs at the foot of the Seine. I plan to stay here from February to November. I hope the harvest will be good. In 1901, Huklenbrok exhibited in Antwerp and in 1902 in Ghent, where he presented a View of the Seine in August. The present work, which dates from between 1901 and 1903, is a rare example of the artistic expression of Huklenbrok, who reached the peak of his talent during his stay in La Bouille. Our painting by its technique is related to neo-impressionism with the juxtaposition of pure colors in the form of small touches that, observed from afar, allow the viewer to reconstitute the form himself. The town hall of La Bouille has a painting that was given to them by the painter, Le passage de la Seine entre La Bouille et Sahurs, dated 1901, with dimensions slightly larger than ours. A third large-format painting at La Bouille is believed to exist, but its location is unknown. In his Diary, published in 2017 by the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Count Harry Kessler (1868-1937), a famous German collector and patron of the arts, in his notes on the remarkable things to be seen during his visit to the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts at the Grand Palais in Paris on 17 May 1902, writes in particular about Henri Huklenbrok and his painting Interior, Autumnal Visit (No. 613): "... In my opinion he is the equal of Vuillard and Denis in terms of talent, ..." and "... An interesting personality to follow". He specifies that he is Belgian, lives in La Bouille, near Rouen, and 14 rue Chabrol in Paris. Unfortunately, Huklenbrok's artistic career seems to have stopped in 1903. It is generally accepted that he lost his mind after a nervous breakdown due, among other things, to the death of