Signed, this oil on panel by Charles-Henri Contencin (1898–1955) shows the Ailefroide, Grande Sagne and Barre des Écrins, Dauphiné Alps, France.

Looking across the Glacier Blanc, from left to right, the Ailefroide, Grande Sagne, Barre des Écrins and Dôme de Neige make up the imposing Massif des Écrins. Contencin divided his composition into two distinct areas of shadow and light to create this striking high-altitude scene – filling the foreground with a diagonal silhouette in deep, cold shade so that the glacier itself appears even brighter beyond.

Collectors of Contencin's extensive Massif des Écrins output, now the fourteenth distinct work by the artist in this collection, will find this a wide, panoramic counterpart to his closer-focus Glacier Blanc and Refuge compositions already held here.