In 1897, just after his marriage to Marthe Wenger, Georges Lacombe (1868-1916) bought the Château de l'Ermitage, north of Alençon, in the commune of Saint-Nicolas-des-Bois. From then on, he spent most of his time there, enjoying walks in the surrounding area, the Ecouves forest with the Vignage rocks and the course of La Briante. This modest river, which rises in the heights of the neighbouring forest, flows through the property. It provided him with a wealth of subjects to paint, from the undergrowth to the meadows of the valley. For this painting, Lacombe positioned himself about 500 m downstream from his home. He is looking upstream at the landscape, and to the left can be seen the heights of the Ecouves forest, known as ‘la haie du Froust’ (the Froust hedge). The painter chose a particularly original viewpoint: he placed himself in line with the barrier that runs along the left bank of the river. To construct his composition, he played on the foreshortened treatment of the barrier, with an accelerated perspective effect leading to a tree, and on several vanishing lines in the landscape.

This bold composition is reminiscent of certain works by Gustave Caillebotte. In order to respond to what is to the left of the fence - the effects of the water in the river, the stones cluttering its bed and the bank - Lacombe uses a visual effect: the rays of the western sun are projected through the bars of the rustic fence, and the shadow cast on the grass of the meadow creates a tangle of moving curves. In another effect, the painter uses the blue of the river water to depict the wood of the fence in the shadow. His granddaughter, Martine Foltz-Lacombe, recalled: ‘How blue the shadows of the fences were on a sweltering July day! ‘In this structured composition, in which he plays with decorative effects, Lacombe combines several techniques: small, vibrant brushstrokes inherited from Impressionism and larger, simplifying ones. Another sign of his mastery was to leave the canvas exposed to bring out the blue of the sky and create a transition with the foliage.

This work corresponds to a period of research by the painter, who was renewing himself from the Nabi works in Camaret to the Neo-Impressionist works of his early years at the Hermitage. It is undoubtedly one of the outstanding works of the painter's last years, when he died prematurely at the age of 48. Georges Lacombe gave this work to Albert Hepp, the brother of Maurice Hepp, one of his great friends from his Lycée Hoche days in Versailles. Albert and Maurice Hepp, and their two brothers François and Pierre, were regulars at the Hermitage. On the death of Albert Hepp, it passed to his son Jean, before being acquired by the current owner in 1987. Only three collectors in just over a century! This has certainly contributed to the work being in excellent condition, with its original canvas, never restored, and never varnished, which corresponded to the intentions of Lacombe and his Nabis friends. Because of his situation, Georges Lacombe did not really need to sell his work. As a result, his output was relatively small. Most of the important works are now kept in museums around the world. This quality work is one of the last still in private collection.