The Painter's Garden at Saint-Privé

Henri-Joseph Harpignies' garden was clearly a great joy to him: it became one of his favourite subjects and he painted it many times, making sketches and watercolours as well as oil paintings. In this picture, painted a few years after he retired to the country, he has depicted the garden in great detail, from the plants and trees to the texture of old walls and flower pots.

Harpignies had retired to his property (La Trémellerie at Saint Privé on the banks of the river Loing, south-east of Paris) in about 1879. He kept a studio in Paris, but set up a second one in his garden, full of light and air. Students came to work with him there, and for many years he took them out on painting and sketching trips into the surrounding countryside. He continued to paint right up until his death in 1916.

Credit: Presented by H. Arthur Robinson in memory of Mrs R.H. Tripp, 1923; transferred from the Tate, 1956