1
2
BOON GALLERY Our gallery has the honour to present you a fine selection of exclusive works of art • BOON GALLERY - STAND MS 5
Exhibition Catalogue 3
H. R. H. Queen Mathilde of Belgium
4
19th and 20th century European painting and sculpture. The Boon Gallery, founded in 1985, specializes in late 19th and early 20th century European paintings. Now established on the prestigious ‘Kustlaan’ in Knokke, it has become one of the leading art galleries in Europe, developing its international reputation at art fairs in Almaty, Amsterdam, Antibes, Astana, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, Monaco, Moscow and Paris. It offers a range of high-quality works from a variety of European schools. The directors, Jos and Dominique Boon are members of the ‘Syndicat National des Antiquaires’ (SNA) and the Royal Belgian Chamber of Antiques and Fine Art Dealers which are both affiliated with the CINOA. They also belong to the ‘Belgian Chamber of Art Experts’. Exhibitor: Biennale des Antiquaires de Monaco, Biennale des Antiquaires de Paris, BRAFA - Brussels, Fine Art Asia - Hong Kong, Moscow World Fine Art Fair, PAN Amsterdam, Salon du Collectionneur - Paris, Antibes Salon des Antiquaires, Almaty Art Show, Olympia Fine Arts & Antiques - London. Kustlaan 197 BE-8300 Knokke-Zoute - Belgium +32 (0)475 45 49 63 • +33 (0)640 62 46 30 www.boongallery.com - info@boongallery.com
5
Pierre BONNARD (1867 - 1947) «Before the mirror» French School Signed lower right Circa 1905 Oil on canvas 58.5 x 53.5 cm / 23 x 21 in Around the year 1905, Bonnard dedicated a series of paintings to Anita Champagne, a young model who later became one of Henri Manguin. A half output from the world of childhood, that is how the painter wants to show Anita in this painting, casually holding in one hand a rag doll, while the other she adjusts her hair in the mirror in a typically feminine gestures. At the dawn of his life as a woman, half-undressed in front of the mirror, she seems to realize the potential of seduction that animates her. Many painters over time have associated the mirror with the female representation. From «The Venus in the mirror» of Diego Velasquez towards the «distorting mirrors» by Paul Delvaux and René Magritte, the scope of this accessory in the picture has changed significantly. On the emblem par excellence of the painting, he transcribed as accurately reality, he became an introspective element that can be subversive in its ability to avoid the real work. With Bonnard’s work , we are not there yet, but the mirror still plays an ambiguous role, both filter and revealing. It allows us to make a distance from the subject, which is not seen directly but through a filter screen. It also gives the artist the opportunity to formally and chromatically study a range of shades, as he likes to still do her bare immersed in baths, which did leave out that, through a liquid surface is not so still and translucent as one might think at first glance. On the other hand, the mirror Bonnard allows the viewer to establish some privacy, access to the inner life of the subject and grasp the truth through the emotion. Vanity of vanities, it reminds us of our own quest for identity. Literature: DAUBERVILLE, J., «Bonnard, catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint révisé et augmenté», Paris, 1992, n°363, p.317.
6
7
Charles CAMOIN (1879 - 1965) «Still-life of fruits and flowers» French School Signed lower right Oil on canvas 45 x 55 cm / 18 x 21.7 in
Provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom Biography : Charles Camoin was a French painter associated with the Fauvist mouvement. Born in Marseille, he met Henri Matisse in Gustave Moreau’s class at the «Ecole des Beaux Arts» in Paris. Matisse and his friends - including Camoin, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Georges Rouault, André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck - formed the original group of artists labeled the Fauves, meaning «the wild beasts»for their wild, expressionist-like use of colour. Camoin always remained close to Matisse. He painted a portrait of Matisse, which is in the Pompidou Museum in Paris. His works have been widely shown in France and are in such major collections as the “Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris” in addition to the Centre Georges Pompidou and many of the French regional museums. In 1955, he was awarded the «Prix du President de la Republique» at the Biennale of Menton.
8
9
Lynn CHADWICK (1914 - 2003) «Maquette VI» British School Signed «Chadwick 1986 673S 5/8» Dated 1986 Bronze with black patina Height 51 cm / 20.2 in Provenance: Private Collection, Belgium Lynn Chadwick was one of the leading British sculptors of post-war Britain, known primarily for metal works often inspired by the human form and the natural world, but which also at times seemed close to abstraction. He was launched on the international stage as one of a new generation of British sculptors exhibiting at the British Pavilion of the 1952 Venice Biennale. Here these young sculptors surprised the audience with their departure from previously dominant sculptural traditions and materials, embracing iron structures, plaster filler and industrial compounds. They presented jagged works concerned with the dematerialization of mass and the vitality of line. When Lynn Chadwick was awarded the coveted prize for sculpture in the 1956 Venice Biennale, it was the sensation of the show and he became the youngest sculptor ever to do so. Chadwick went on to secure an international reputation, and in 1964 was appointed Commander, Order of the British Empire (CBE). His sculptures and drawings are in the collections of many of the great museums of the world. Literature : FARR, D., «Lynn Chadwick, sculptor. Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-1996», Lypiatt Studio, Stroud, 1997, cf. nr. 673.
10
11
Edgar DEGAS (1834 - 1917) «Danseuse, Préparation en dedans» French School Inscribed ‘Préparation en dedans / fausse position’ in pencil upper right Stamped with Degas vente stamp (Lugt 658) in red lower left Inscribed with Durand-Ruel photograph numbers Ph1863 in blue chalk on verso Circa 1885 Charcoal on paper 33 x 23 cm / 13.2 x 9 in This drawing by Degas demonstrates a knowledge of the off-guard compositions created by contemporary photography. The artist has inscribed the top right corner with a note about the technical name for the step “préparation en dedans” - a unique insight into Degas’s ballet know-how beyond the aesthetic. Provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom Private Collection, Germany Acquired by a private collector in the 1920’s Third Sale Degas, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, April 1919, lot 102 Atelier Degas, Paris, atelier stamp (Lugt 657) and stamped on verso Exhibitions : Canberra, National Gallery of Australia, «Degas: Master of French Art», 2008-2009, no.59. London, Royal Academy of Art, «Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement», 2011. Literature: KENDALL, R., «Degas and the Ballet: Picturing movement», London 2011. p 139, Cat. No. 54. KINSMAN, J., «Degas: The Uncontested Master», Canberra, 2008 - 2009, pp 132 and 138, no.59.
12
13
Raoul DUFY (1877 - 1953) «Regatta at Henley» French School Signed lower right Circa 1930 Gouache on paper 50 x 65 cm / 19.7 x 26 in Certificat by Fanny Guillon-Lafaille, n°A12-1877 The island in the background is Temple Island. The figures wearing blazers are : Trinity College in blue, Pembroke College in white, Saint-John’s College in red and Trinity Hall in black and white sweater. Provenance: Private Collection, France Perls Gallery, New York Beyeler Gallery, Basel Sotheby’s, London, 16/10/1967 Private Collection, Canada Literature: GUILLON-LAFAILLE, F., «Catalogue raisonné des aquarelles, gouaches et pastels de Raoul Dufy», Paris, p. 67, n° 1239.
14
15
Paul César HELLEU (1859 - 1927) «Portrait of Madame Chéruit» French School Signed upper right Circa 1898 Pastel on board 80 x 65 cm / 31.5 x 25.6 in The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the «Association les amis de Paul-César Helleu» and will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné under n°PA-5956. Madame Madeleine Chéruit (died 1935) was among the foremost couturiers of her generation, and one of the first women to control a major French fashion house. Her salon operated on Place Vendôme in Paris under the name Chéruit from 1906 to 1935. Provenance: Succession Madame Chéruit, France Literature: de MONTESQUIOU, R., «La femme par Helleu», Le Figaro Illustré, October 1899, p. 221, illustrated.
16
17
Auguste HERBIN (1882 - 1960) «Composition 1918» French School Signed lower middle Dated 1918 Watercolour on paper 60 x 42 cm / 23.6 x 16.5 in
Provenance: Private Collection, Belgium
Private Collection, Switzerland Carl Laszlo Collection
Leonce Rosenberg Collection Literature: BISCHOFBERGER, B., «Auguste Herbin», Zurich, April 2-30, 1965, no. 35, ill. p. 18.
KESTNER, «Auguste Herbin», Hannover, September 14-October 15, 1967, catalogue no. 24.
KUNSTVEREIN, «Auguste Herbin», Westfalen, December 15-January 14, 1968, catalogue no. 20.
18
19
Isaac ISRAELS (1865 - 1934) «Regent Street, London» Dutch School Signed lower left Circa 1913-1914 Oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm / 35.8 x 28.3 in Reluctant to return to The Hague after the death of his father in 1911, Isaac Israels moved to London in the spring of 1913. After having stayed in Paris for a period of nine years, the Amsterdam Impressionist went in search of new and dynamic subject matter, focusing especially on the bustling street-life of the capital’s West End, Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street. Israels furthermore portrayed young ladies posing in boats on the Thames, along the riverbank and in his studio on Fitzroy Street. Admired by his close friends for his unequalled energy, Israels had a childish pleasure in driving around London in a double decker bus and observing his subject-matter from a high view-point. On one occasion, a shop keeper even gave the artist the possibility to make use of his balcony. The present work features such a bird’s-eye view of Regent Street and bears a distinct resemblance to several of the artist’s town views of Paris, Amsterdam and The Hague. With a broad and impressionistic brushstroke, Isaac Israels rendered numerous figures strolling across the sand coloured side-walk, against which the brightly coloured buses form a lively contrast. Provenance: Private Collection, Europe Leslie Smith Gallery, Wassenaar Christie’s, Amsterdam, 27 October 1998, lot 346 Kunsthandel E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., Naarden, inv. no. S7093 Literature: WAGNER, A., «Isaac Israels», Venlo, 1985, p. 93, fig. 112.
20
21
Fernand KHNOPFF (1858 - 1921) «Avec Grégoire le Roy. Mon coeur pleure d’autrefois» Belgian School Signed lower left Dated 1889 pencil, coloured pencil on paper 50 x 29.5 cm / 19.7 x 11.7 in Provenance:
Private Collection, Belgium
Van Hentenryck Collection, Brussels Galerie de Jonckheere, Brussels
Sotheby’s auction, London, 24 march 1988, n°539 Goddevrind Collection, Brussels
G.M. Rodrigue Collection, Brussels G. Hulin de Loo Collection, Ghent Exhibitions :
London, «Flemish and Modern Belgian Painters», 1906, n°123 Brussels, «Rencontres de Maîtres, n°1», 1989
Tokyo-Himeji-Nagoya-Yamanashi, «Fernand Khnopff», 1990, ill.p.91 Bruges, «Du Réalisme au Symbolisme», 1995, ill. p.153
Takamatsu-Tokyo-Himeji, «Symbolisme en Europe», 1996-1997, ill.
Krakow, «La force de l’imaginaire / Bruxelles et le symbolisme», 2000, ill.p.61 Budapest, « Les passions de l’âme», 2001-2002, ill. p.94 Literature:
DELEVOY, R., de CROËS, C., OLLINGER-ZINQUE, G., «Fernand Khnopff : Catalogue Raisonné», Lebeer-Hossmann, Brussels, 1987.
22
23
Marie LAURENCIN (1885 - 1956) «Portrait of a Lady» French School Signed lower left Watercolour on paper 36 x 27 cm / 14.1 x 10.6 in The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Expert Mr. Marc Ottavi Biography : During the early years of the 20th century, Marie Laurencin was an important figure in the Parisian avant-garde. A member of both the circle of Pablo Picasso, and Cubists associated with the “Section d’Or”, such as Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Henri le Fauconnier and Francis Picabia, exhibiting with them at the “Salon des Indépendants” (1910-1911) and the “Salon d’Automne” (1911-1912). She became romantically involved with the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, and has often been identified as his muse. During the First World War, Laurencin left France for exile in Spain with her German-born husband, Baron Otto von Waëtjen, since through her marriage she had automatically lost her French citizenship. The couple subsequently lived together briefly in Düsseldorf. After they divorced in 1920, she returned to Paris, where she achieved financial success as an artist until the economic depression of the 1930s. During the 1930s she worked as an art instructor at a private school. She lived in Paris until her death. Laurencin’s works include paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints. She is known as one of the few female Cubist painters, with Sonia Delaunay, Marie Vorobieff, and Franciska Clausen. While her work shows the influence of Cubist painters Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who was her close friend, she developed a unique approach to abstraction which often centered on the representation of groups of women and female portraits. Her work lies outside the bounds of Cubist norms in her pursuit of a specifically feminine aesthetic by her use of pastel colours and curvilinear forms. Laurencin’s insistence on the creation of a visual vocabulary of femininity, which characterized her art until the end of her life, can be seen as a response to what some consider to be the arrogant masculinity of Cubism.
24
25
Henri LE SIDANER (1862 - 1939) «Table au Clair de Lune» French School Signed lower right Executed in 1928 Oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm / 28.7 x 36.2 in Provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom Literature: FARINAUX-LE SIDANER, Y, «Catalogue Raisonné Le Sidaner, l’Oeuvre peint et gravé», Milan, 1989, no. 648 ill., p. 241. Biography : Henri Le Sidaner was born in Mauritius and moved to Paris at the age of 18, becoming a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel
at the “Ēcole des Beaux-Arts” in 1884. The artist exhibited in Paris for the first time in 1887 at the «Salon des Artistes Français». He also exhibited in Paris at the “Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts» and in 1930 was appointed a member of the Institute at the «Académie des Beaux-Arts».
In 1900 he visited the small village of Gerberoy (Seine-et-Oise) where he later bought the house which became the inspiration for many of his paintings and where he painted many of his beautiful still lifes. He described the town as
a “haven of peace”. Le Sidaner was interested in, and influenced by, the colour theories and pointillism of Neo-Im-
pressionism that the 1900s brought with it. More specifically, the style of Eugene Carrière, which is characterized by indeterminate colours and a taste for a certain misty atmosphere, was admired by Le Sidaner and the piece seen here can be regarded as a development of Carrière’s technique. The focus for both Sidaner and Carrière was on light and how it could be shown on canvas to give objects a three dimensional effect as well as a sensation of calm and
of atmosphere. The painting here causes one to reflect on the essence of stillness and the beauty that light creates, when time and light seem to be diffused.
He worked in the realist style, but his love of penumbra and twilight create a poetic and dreamy quality to his technical expertise. There is also undoubtedly an influence of optics on Le Sidaner’s work. The atmosphere of his paintings, whether they are landscapes or still lifes result from both his delicate style of painting and his choice of subjects.
26
27
Gustave LOISEAU (1865 - 1935) «Le Quatorze Juillet à Paris» French School Signed lower right Dated 1925 Oil on canvas 60 x 50 cm / 23.5 x 19.2 in Provenance: Private Collection, Europe Biography : Gustave Loiseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter, remembered above all for his landscapes and scenes of Paris streets. Brought up in Paris and Pontoise by parents who owned a butchers shop, Loiseau served an appren-
ticeship with a decorator who was a friend of the family. In 1887 he enrolled at the «École des Arts Décoratifs» where he studied life-drawing. While working as a decorator, Loiseau redecorated the apartment of the landscape painter
Fernand Quigon. After he left the «École des Arts Décoratifs», he invited Quignon tutor him in painting. In 1890, he
went to Pont-Aven in Brittany for the first time, fraternizing with the artists there, especially Paul Gauguin and Émile Bernard.
After experimenting with Pointillism, he adopted his own approach to Post-Impressionism, painting landscapes direct-
ly from nature. His technique known as «en treillis» or cross-hatching gave his works a special quality, now recognized as his speciality. Loiseau first exhibited at the «Salon des Indépendants» in 1893 and at the «Salon de la Société Nationale» in 1895, as well as at impressionist exhibitions in 1890 and 1896.
Loiseau’s paintings, revealing his passion for the seasons from the beginning of spring to the harvests later in the
autumn, often depict the same orchard or garden scene as time goes by. Series of this kind, which also include cliffs, harbours or churches, are reminiscent of Claude Monet. Although Loiseau did not complete many portraits, he often
painted people at work: dockers together with their boats, villagers leaving a Sunday service in Brittany or arriving at
the market in Pont-Aven, or even carriages in Paris driving across the Place de la Bastille and the Étoile. He is also remembered for his paintings of Paris streets such as the “Rue de Clignancourt”, represented here in this particular work.
28
29
Henry MOORE (1898 - 1986) «Reclining Figure» British School Signed, numbered and stamped Foundry mark ‘Moore 3/9 Noack Berlin’ on reverse Conceived and cast in 1967 Bronze with brown patina 17 x 38 cm / 6.7 x 15 in Henry Moore’s sculptures have made the transition from private gallery to art museum to general public appreciation
with such success that his work has become both instantly recognizable and synonymous with British Modern art. The very large works that we have become accustomed to seeing at Kew Gardens, London, in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and in city squares nationwide are impressive and impactful, but in fact it is Moore’s tabletop size maquettes that have been described as having a ‘delicacy and emotional resonance that is missing in the big bronzes’.
By the time this bronze was conceived and cast, Moore was well-established, both nationally and internationally. He had staged his first one man show at the Warren Gallery in 1928 and had gone on from there to a burgeoning career which saw him exhibiting all over the world by the 1940s. His role as an official war artist between 1940 and 1942 would have only served to increase his profile and popularity.
This bronze maquette, though less than the height of a standard ruler, still manages to reflect all the elements of Moore’s larger works: the crags and wildness of the Yorkshire landscape, the juxtaposition of angular sharpness side
by side with flowing undulations of the bronze and the sublime texture of the honed and worked metal itself. It also tells a story of the artist’s own history and post-war anguish. Provenance:
Private Collection, United Kingdom Louis Stern Fine Art, Los Angeles Private Collection, Los Angeles
Private Collection, United Kingdom Literature:
BOWNESS, A., «Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture, 1964-73», London, 1977, vol.4, p. 49, no. 565.
30
31
32
33
Alfred STEVENS (1823 - 1906) «The visitors» Belgian School Signed lower left Dated 1884 Oil on panel 80 x 57 cm / 31.5 x 22.5 in A similar larger version belongs to the Belgian Royal family Provenance: Private Collection, Belgium Literature: LEFEBVRE, C., «Alfred Stevens: 1823-1906», Brame & Lorenceau, Paris, 2005, p. 61. Biography : Alfred Stevens was a painter of portraits, genre scenes and seascapes. He was a student at the Academy of Brussels of François-Jean Navez from 1834 until 1840. He completed his studies at the “École Nationale des Beaux Arts” under Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres from 1844 until 1849. He returned to Belgium and debuted at the “Salon de Bruxelles” in 1851. He installed himself permanently in Paris in 1852, where he became friends with avant-garde artists such as Charles Baudelaire, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Although Stevens can’t be seen as either an Impressonist or as an Academic painter, he was definitely a Modernist. From 1855 onward, he developed himself as the painter of the upper-class ladies; his works are as modern in conception as anything painted by Edouard Manet and Claude Monet.
34
35
Jean-Baptiste VAN MOER (1819 - 1884) «View of Venice : The Doge’s Palace and the Piazzetta di San Marco with the entrance to the Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute» Belgian School Signed lower left Dated 1884 Oil on canvas 185 x 300 cm / 72.8 x 118 in
A larger version can be found back at the Belgian Royal Palace in Brussels Provenance: Private Collection, Belgium Biography : Jean-Baptiste Van Moer was a Belgian painter of landscapes, but chiefly of urban sights and historical architectures. He was a pupil of François Bossuet at the Academy of Brussels. To get inspiration, he traveled to France, Italy, Germany, Dalmatia, Egypt, Syria, Spain and Portugal. But he worked also in his own country, near Brussels. He received many official commissions: he made drawings for Queen Victoria and for King Leopold II of Belgium in 1855; he executed three huge sights of Venice in 1867, and he painted a series of four views for the Royal Palace of the mayor of Brussels in 1875. The Belgian industrialist Jules Anspach asked him to make 15 sights of Brussels quarters on the point of being demolished in the city’s renovation program and destined for the waiting-room of his office in the City Hall. By their photographic precision, these works have a documentary value. The works showing daily life in Brussels are realistic visions of the city. Van Moer also made a series of wall-paintings for several mansions in Paris and Brussels.
36
37
38
Š Boon Gallery S.A. has designed, produced and photographed this catalogue for temporary exhibition use only Biennale des Antiquaires art show from 11th until 21st of September 2014 - All rights reserved 2014 Kustlaan 197, B-8300 Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium
39
BOON GALLERY Kustlaan 197 BE-8300 Knokke-Zoute - Belgium +32 (0)475 45 49 63 • +33 (0)640 62 46 30 www.boongallery.com - info@boongallery.com
40