Henri Le Sidaner (1862–1939) was born on 7 August 1862 in Port Louis, on the island of Mauritius, to Breton parents. As a child he moved with his family to Dunkirk, where he began lessons with the local history painter Alexandre Desmidt. He later went to Paris and studied under Alexandre Cabanel at the École des Beaux-Arts, though he soon grew disenchanted with the academic milieu.
In 1901 he discovered Gerberoy, a small village in Picardy, and settled there. Over the following decades he turned the house and its garden into one of his main subjects. Later he divided his year between Gerberoy and Versailles, and he travelled in search of new motifs, wintering in places such as Venice and London.
Le Sidaner is classed as an Intimist, and when asked which school he belonged to, he is reported to have answered that if he had to be categorised, he was an intimist. His paintings of tables set in gardens, quiet street scenes and twilight views are soft, silent and often deserted. He died in July 1939 and left more than 4,000 paintings.