In Cahors to visit the recently reopened Musée Henri Martin, which contains a fine collection of sculpture and paintings from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, including the world’s largest collection of paintings by Post-Impressionist artist Henri Martin.

Henri Jean Guillaume Martin was born in Toulouse in 1860 and attended the Ecole des beaux-arts in the city from 1877 to 1879, when he left for Paris. In Paris he continued his studies and won a scholarship to tour Italy where he studied the artists of the early Renaissance.

Henri Martin c.1882

He developed a Pointillist style of painting and earned a gold medal at the 1889 Salon. In 1896 he was made a knight of the Legion of Honour, before being promoted to the rank of officer in 1905 and commander in 1914. At the 1900 World Fair he was awarded the Grand Prize for his work.

When Martin decided to move away from Paris, he searched for ten years for his ideal home, eventually buying the Domaine de Marquayrol, overlooking the village of Labastide-du-Vert, near Cahors. He produced what is considered to be his best work in this new tranquil environment where he lived for over forty years. He also produced paintings for many public buildings, including the Capitole in Toulouse, the Sorbonne and the Council of State in Paris and several Parisian town halls. He died at Domaine de Marquayrol in 1943.

Henri Martin ‘Meditation’ (c.1890 – 1900)

Henri Martin ‘Haymaking’ (1910)

Henri Martin ‘The Bridge at Labastide-du-Vert’ (c.1920)

Henri Martin ‘Labastide-du-Vert, morning’ (c.1925)

Henri Martin ‘Monument to the Dead of Cahors’ (1932)

Henri Martin ‘Self-Portrait’ (c.1938)

Cahors is the capital of the Lot department of south-west France. Its fourteenth-century Pont Valentré, with three machicolated towers, is probably the finest medieval fortified bridge in France and is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.