Henri MARTIN (1860-1943) Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, circa 1920 Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. 86 x 108 cm Provenance : - Former collection of Monsieur X, Valence d'Agen. Acquired directly from the artist in 1943. - By descent. A copy of Cyrille Martin's certificate of authenticity and a copy of the certificate of inclusion in the Catalogue Raisonné being prepared by Marie-Anne Destrebecq-Martin will be given to the buyer. From 1920 onwards, Henri Martin chose to live for a few weeks a year in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, a medieval village perched high above a meander in the Lot river. Pyramidal construction is a constant feature of the Saint-Cirq compositions. "Martin knows perfectly how to arrange successive planes; from the foreground with a few flowering branches to the solitary church, the rising perspective rises without apparent effort in a solid, logical thrust (...)" (Claude Juskiewenski, Henri Martin Paysagiste et décorateur languedocien, Thèse de IIIe cycle, Université Toulouse - Le Mirail, sous la direction de Monsieur le Professeur Guinard, 1974, p. 162).