G lowing with a luminous and vibrant light, La Treille de Marquayrol en début d'automne depicts the gardens of Marquayrol, the house that Henri Martin bought in a small village near Toulouse in 1900. The acquisition of the property marked a turning point in his career, encouraging him to abandon the allegorical and mythical subjects which had dominated his earlier work to devote himself to the representation of nature. Martin declared that: “My preoccupation with rendering atmospheric effects increased later, after three months in the country, face to face with nature. Trying to capture its diverse effects, I was compelled to paint it differently. The natural light, now brilliant, then diffuse, which softened the contours of figures and landscape, powerfully obliged me to translate it any way I could, but other than using a loaded brush, through pointillé and the breaking up of tone” (quoted in Petra ten-Doesschate Chu, Eden Close at Hand: The Paintings of Henri Martin, 1860-1943, New York, 2005, p. 26).

In Marquayrol, the landscape and surroundings served as a constant source of inspiration to Martin. The artist’s canvases are characteristically joyous expressions of light, color and texture. His depictions of landscapes and architecture open a window to turn-of-the-century France animated by vivid palettes. The present work highlights the delicate handling of light, in which beams stray through small openings within the leaves. The depth and distinctly Impressionist quality of the landscape symbolize the artist’s diligence in creating idyllic pictures. Jac Martin-Ferrières, the artist's son, notes that “Henri Martin was without contest an Impressionist and one who had the deepest sensitivity, certainly equal to that of Monet, whom he most admired. Their interpretation of nature is certainly owing to their utmost sensitivity and not through research of a technical process, a poetical evocation hued by a thousand colors which can undoubtedly be called a work of art” (Jac Martin-Ferrières, Henri Martin, Paris, 1967, p. 35).