ALEXANDRE BENOIS (RUSSIAN 1870-1960)

Les Bassins de Versailles, 1906
oil on canvas
50 x 61 cm (19 5/8 x 24 in.)
signed, dated and inscribed Paris lower right

LOT NOTES
For Alexandre Benois, the gardens of Versailles were an endless source of inspiration. At times lamenting and expressing a sense of yearning for unknown times past of Louis VIX, Benois returned to these still landscapes again and again. Despite the occasional inclusion of birds, rain, or ripples on the surface of reservoirs and fountains, the spaces in his oil paintings and watercolors of the famed palace grounds appear to be frozen in time, covered by an impenetrable and quiet stillness. Removed from any sign of human activity, this fountain-view painted in the opening years of the 20th century can just as easily be presenting us with a scene from three hundred years ago, with the Sun King just beyond the picture plane.

CONDITION
Observed in frame. The painting is in overall excellent condition. Visible waviness to the upper left corner of canvas. Inspection under UV shows no apparent signs of restoraiton.

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