Henri Lebasque – Poplars in Autumn near Chalifert, 1900 Sotheby’s

The canvas presents a landscape dominated by a cluster of tall, slender trees – poplars, judging from their form – standing in a field during autumn. The composition is structured around these vertical elements, which rise prominently against a muted sky. A horizontal band of foliage and distant land occupies the background, creating depth within the scene.
The artist’s technique emphasizes broken color and visible brushstrokes. Rather than blending hues smoothly, individual strokes of yellow, ochre, brown, and touches of green are juxtaposed to suggest the play of light on the trees bark and leaves. This approach lends a vibrancy and textural quality to the foliage, conveying a sense of movement and atmospheric diffusion. The field itself is rendered with similarly fragmented brushwork, using greens and yellows to depict the fading vegetation.
The color palette leans heavily towards warm tones – yellows, oranges, and browns – which evoke the characteristic hues of autumn. However, cooler shades of blue and grey are subtly incorporated into the sky and background foliage, preventing the composition from becoming overly saturated. This interplay of warm and cool colors contributes to a sense of visual harmony.
The overall impression is one of quiet contemplation and observation of natures cyclical rhythms. The bare trees suggest a period of dormancy and transition, while the remaining leaves hint at the persistence of life even in decline. There’s an understated melancholy present, not overtly expressed but subtly conveyed through the muted tones and the starkness of the tree forms against the sky.
The artist seems less concerned with precise representation than with capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere on the landscape. The scene is imbued with a sense of immediacy – as if it were observed and recorded in a single, concentrated moment. This focus on subjective perception aligns with the broader artistic trends of the period, which prioritized individual experience over objective reality.