View of the Swiss Pond and of the Versailles Orangerie,

Charles Henry Tenré (14 Oct. 1854 - Paris, 29 Jan. 1926),
View of the Swiss Pond and of the Versailles Orangerie, c. 1904,
oil on canvas, 2,88 x 4,38 m


These two large decorative panels are very much representative of Henry Tenré’s art. The French painter was fond of landscape paintings and of royal palaces (Versailles, Fontainebleau) which he exhibited many times during his long career.
Henry Tenré received a solid training in Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre’s studio at the Julian Academy from 1875 to 1885. Then he studied under the multi-medallist landscape painter Edmond Yon. As a member of the Société du Salon des Artistes Français, he exhibited from 1883 to his death. Henry Tenré was renowned for his large decorative landscapes, his interior scenes of intimate atmosphere (Jacques Doucet’s mansion rue Spontini), theatrical performances and portraits of the high society (Princess Georges de Radziwill, The baroness Gustave de Rothschild, Mrs H. Machiels, Miss de Thézillat).


Henry Tenré was an unmissable exhibitor at the Paris Salons in vogue at the time. He exhibited assiduously at the Salons of the Société des Artistes Français, of the Société des Aquarellistes Français, and on occasion, at the Salon d’Automne and at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. Many personal exhibitions were organized at Georges Petit’s Gallery in Paris. His paintings were exhibited in Brussels, in Toulouse, in Versailles, in Strasbourg. Finally, he obtained a 2nd class medal at the end of the 1911 Salon de la Société des Artistes Français. Art-critics spoke highly of his works. Their articles still highlight today the role and the
regularity of the description of the Palace of Versailles and of its garden in Tenré’s painting from 1898 to his death, in particular the report written by art-critic Georges Denoinville.

Henry Tenré chose the Palace of Versailles and its gardens as the centerpiece in his painting, as evidenced by the triptych he exhibited at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in 1909 (no. 1687).He used large-format canvases to better depict the layout of the pools and of the alleys designed by the great architect André Le Nôtre for King Louis XIV.