Born in Mauritius, Le Sidaner moved to Paris in 1880 to study at the Academie des Beaux Arts. Taking influence from the Symbolists Le Sidaner’s early work featured solitary women and sparsely populated pastoral scenes, but from 1898 during an extended summer sojourn in Bruges his compositions became even starker. After this he focused almost exclusively upon deserted and enchanting landscapes, which expressed his appreciation for the beauty of the natural world.

The present work is a study for 'L'Orangerie', (no. 73 in the catalogue raisonné, p.66, ill) created during Le Sidaner’s first visit to Bruges. The finished painting captured the scene at dusk and explored the effects of enigmatic light. Meanwhile this elegant drawing, which juxtaposes architectural fragments with a pattern of tree branches, demonstrates perfectly the reduced style Le Sidaner developed at this time.

The poet and critic Camille Mauclair wrote admiringly of such ‘still and silent scenes’ that were so characteristic of Le Sidaner’s art. Meanwhile the artist’s intuitive sense for design earned him commercial and critical success. By 1900 he had already participated in the first exhibition of the Société Nouvelle at the Galerie Georges Petit, with whom he subsequently signed a much sought after contract. In 1930 Le Sidaner became the Officer of the Order of Leopold, as well as entering the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He was elected President of the academy seven years later, a role he held until his death in 1939.