Henri Lebasque was born at Champigné (Maine-et-Loire) on 25 September 1865. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Angers for some time, he transferred to Paris in 1886, first to Bonnat's studio and then to that of Humbert. In 1895 he married Catherine Fischer. During World War I he worked as a painter for the army. In his search for motifs he traveled around, both in the north and the south of France, until, in 1924, he settled at Le Cannet near Cannes, where Bonnard soon became his neighbor. He died there of a heart failure in August 1937.