That all changed last week while I was reading the International Art Newspaper and spotted a dealer selling a work by Lebasque with the same view 'across the bay'. As a result we now know that the view takes in Morgat, near Crozon in Britanny and not too far away from Concarneau which is where the New Zealand painter Sydney Lough Thompson (1877-1973) lived and worked. Is it likely that Thompson met Lebasque? It's possible, Thompson must have been aware of Lebasque's work as he purchased Across the bay on behalf of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery when he acquired several French paintings with the May Schlesinger bequest in Paris in 1938. You can check out the works Thompson purchased for the Schlesinger bequest here.

Across the Bay is one of several paintings made by Lebasque around 1922 that took the same viewpoint overlooking the bay at Morgat. Lebasque was a post impressionist described as a painter of joy and light. He associated with Vuillard, Bonnard and with Henri Matisse was a founding member of the Salon d'Automne.