Henri Liénard de Saint-Délis was the son of a Dragoons officer who died young. The family went to live in Le Havre in 1885. At his lycée, Henri Saint-Délis was in the same class as Othon Friesz and they became life-long friends. Both Friesz and he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre, where they were pupils of Charles Lullier, a former pupil of Ingres, and it was there they met Jongkind. He also met Dufy, Braque, Lecourt and Copieux. When Dufy left for Paris, Henri de Saint-Délis followed him, but he stayed there only a year, attending Jean Paul Laurens's studio in 1900, visiting the museums and discovering the Impressionists. He returned to Le Havre and lived a cheerful life with his companions until, in 1905, he contracted tuberculosis and had to spend 12 years in a Swiss sanatorium. His brother René used to visit him and bring back his paintings of the mountains to show to his old studio colleagues. Most of his Swiss output was destroyed during a bombardment of Le Havre in 1944. When he returned to Normandy in about 1920 he moved from Le Havre to Honfleur. It is a pity his Swiss paintings were almost entirely destroyed; from what remains, it seems this period was influenced by Fauvism, maybe as a result of his friendship with Friesz. The colour is lively and the composition organised in broad arabesques. He painted the main body of his work in Honfleur - a few portraits and still-lifes, but above all landscapes depicting the coast, the countryside and the port. He also produced a watercolour every day. His Honfleur paintings are alert and fresh, their drawing deliberately sketchy. We could say that Saint-Délis was to Honfleur what Mathieu Verdilhan was to the coast of Marseilles.
He seems to have exhibited regularly at the Salon des Indépendants, Paris, from 1905. Two solo shows of his work were held during his lifetime - in Paris in 1945, and in Rouen in 1948. Retrospectives were held in 1950 at the École des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre, in 1953 at the Hôtel de Ville, Honfleur, in 1954 in Paris, in 1955 in London, in 1961 in Paris, in 1963 in Paris, Honfleur and Le Havre and in 1965 and 1971 in Honfleur.
Museum and Gallery Holdings
Rouen: Port of Honfleur
Auction Records
Paris, 3 April 1925: View of Honfleur, FRF 65
Paris, 13 July 1942: Three-masters in Port, FRF 800
Paris, 20 Dec 1948: Toys, FRF 1,200
Paris, 10 Nov 1954: Fishing Port at Low Tide (watercolour) FRF 24,000
Le Havre, 30 April 1966: 'The Normandie' Leaving, the Blue Ribbon, FRF 9,000
Versailles, 6 Dec 1970: Coastal View of Honfleur, FRF 8,200
Honfleur, 25 Feb 1973: Public Garden in Honfleur, FRF 15,500
Versailles, 19 May 1976: The 14th of July (watercolour and gouache, 13¼ × 18¾ ins/33.5 × 47.5 cm) FRF 4,150
Le Havre, 25 June 1976: Swiss Landscape (oil on canvas, 21¼ × 25½ ins/54 × 65 cm) FRF 16,000
Honfleur, 17 July 1977: Former Wooden Jetty of Honfleur (oil on canvas, 15 × 22 ins/38 × 55 cm) FRF 12,000
Rouen, 18 March 1979: Church of Leysin in Snow (watercolour, 12½ × 19¾ ins/32 × 50 cm) FRF 5,500
Honfleur, 15 July 1979: Port of Fécamp (oil on canvas, 23½ × 28¼ ins/60 × 72 cm) FRF 30,000
Honfleur, 19 April 1981: Exit from the Port of Honfleur (oil on panel, 9 × 13½ ins/23 × 34 cm) FRF 11,500
Paris, 15 Dec 1982: Boats in Honfleur (oil on panel, 11½ × 28¼ ins/29.5 × 72 cm) FRF 25,000
Honfleur, 3 April 1983: Capital in the Old Square of Honfleur (watercolour, 18½ × 24 ins/47 × 61 cm) FRF 19,000
Versailles, 11 Dec 1983: Honfleur, Boats in the Port (oil on canvas, 15 × 18 ins/38 × 46 cm) FRF 18,000
Honfleur, 7 April 1985: Swiss Landscape in Snow (1912, watercolour, 9 × 11½ ins/22 × 29 cm) FRF 11,000
Paris, 10 Dec 1986: Fishing Port (oil on canvas, 18 × 22 ins/46 × 55 cm) FRF 60,000
Honfleur, 12 July 1987: House and Garden of the Painter Gernez (oil on canvas, 20 × 26 ins/51 × 66 cm) FRF 70,000
Paris, 7 Dec 1987: Honfleur, Boats Moored in front of the White Horse (watercolour, 12 × 17¼ ins/30.5 × 44 cm) FRF 9,000
Calais, 4 March 1990: Three-masters in Port (watercolour, 17¾ × 24 ins/45 × 61 cm) FRF 23,000
Paris, 11 March 1990: Fishing Boats in the Port of Honfleur (watercolour, 12¼ × 19¼ ins/31 × 49 cm) FRF 31,000
Sceaux, 10 June 1990: Entrance to the Port of Honfleur (oil on canvas, 11 × 13½ ins/28 × 34 cm) FRF 51,000
Paris, 29 May 1991: Boats at the Quay, Honfleur (watercolour, 18½ × 24½ ins/47 × 62 cm) FRF 18,000
Paris, 26 Oct 1992: 'The Normandie' Leaving Le Havre (woodcut, 12¼ × 16½ ins/31 × 42 cm) FRF 5,500
Paris, 23 June 1993: Honfleur, St Catherine's Market Square (watercolour, 11¾ × 17¼ ins/30 × 44 cm) FRF 11,000
Le Touquet, 22 May 1994: Village Square (watercolour, 9½ × 12¼ ins/24 × 31 cm) FRF 7,500
Paris, 15 June 1994: Interior of a Haberdasher's Shop (oil on canvas, 19¾ × 28¾ ins/50 × 73 cm) FRF 9,200
Deauville, 19 Aug 1994: Place Ste-Catherine, Honfleur (watercolour and ink, 7½ × 5½ ins/19 × 14 cm) FRF 4,800
Paris, 15 Nov 1994: Fishing Boat (oil on canvas, 19 × 25¼ ins/48 × 64 cm) FRF 42,000
Paris, 14 June 1996: Honfleur, View of the Port (watercolour, 9½ × 12 ins/24 × 30.5 cm) FRF 8,800
Paris, 21 March 1997: In the Port of Honfleur (watercolour, 11½ × 18 ins/29 × 46 cm) FRF 21,000
Paris, 6 June 1997: Honfleur, the Port (watercolour, 11¾ × 17 ins/30 × 43 cm) FRF 11,500
Deauville, 4 April 1999: Honfleur, Boats at the Quai (watercolour, 13 × 20 ins/34 × 50 cm) FRF 25,000
Calais, 12 Dec 1999: Fishing Boats (oil on panel, 13 × 13 ins/34 × 34 cm) FRF 25,000
Deauville, 23 April 2000: Honfleur, entrance of the Port (watercolour, 9 × 12 ins/24 × 31 cm) FRF 27,500
Deauville, 23 April 2000: Honfleur, Sailing Boats at the Quai (watercolour, 13 × 18 ins/32 × 45 cm) FRF 29,000
Deauville, 17 Aug 2001: Honfleur, Entrance of the Port (watercolour, 11 × 15 ins/28 × 37 cm) FRF 35,000
Paris, 9 Dec 2001: Boats with Flags for 14 July (watercolour, 18 × 23 ins/46 × 59 cm) FRF 57,000
Le Havre, 21 April 2002: Havre Port, Boats at the Quai (oil on panel, 10 × 12 ins/25 × 31 cm) EUR 10,000
Paris, 5 June 2002: Lake at Honfleur (oil on canvas, 26 × 31 ins/65 × 80 cm) EUR 14,800
Paris, 30 June 2003: Beach (oil on canvas, 29 × 36 ins/73 × 92 cm) EUR 42,000
Le Havre, 21 July 2003: Le Vevey, Switzerland, Landscape with Figures (oil on canvas, 29 × 37 ins/73 × 93 cm) EUR 51,400
Le Havre, 7 March 2004: Le Havre, Approach to the Port (oil on canvas, 29 × 36 ins/73 × 92 cm) EUR 8,000
Deauville, 17 July 2004: Sailing Boats at the Quai, Honfleur (watercolour, 12 × 10 ins/30 × 25 cm) EUR 5,000
Bibliography
Fischer, Jean: Henri de Saint-Délis, exhibition catalogue, Grenier à Sel, Honfleur, 1965.
