David Lévy - Following Cubism by Masterart

following cubism 1910 -1925

an exhibition by

dav i d l é v y

r i c h a r d n ag y

D av i d L é v y & A s s o c i é s Avenue Albert 199 1190 Brussels – Belgium Tel. +32 475 66 12 25

10, avenue Matignon 75008 Paris – France Tel. +33 1 45 63 72 52

info@levydavid.com www.levydavid.com

r i c h a r d n ag y L t d 22 Old Bond Street W1S 4PY London – Great Britain Tel. +44 207 262 64 00 info@richardnagy.com www.richardnagy.com

félix del marle Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré – 1913

serge férat Éloge de la musique – circa 1918

serge férat L’Homme à la guitare et au chien – circa 1918

albert gleizes Les Joueurs de football – 1912

albert gleizes Composition cubiste – 1913

albert gleizes Jazz – 1915

albert gleizes New York – 1915

albert gleizes Barcelone – 1916

JuaN gris Carafe, verre et damier – 1917

Henri hayden À la descente des marins – 1917

Auguste herbin Chêne-liège et aqueduc – 1913

FrantiŠek Kupka Autour d’un point – 1920 - 25

roger de la fresnaye Nature morte à la théière – circa 1912

roger de la fresnaye Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe – 1913

roger de la fresnaye Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot – circa 1920

Louis Marcoussis Nature morte à la guitare et au citron – 1913

léopold survage Baigneuses et baigneur – 1910

georges valmier Portrait de Raymond Courtois – 1915

georges valmier Paysage – 1920

Jacques villon Cavalier – 1914

following cubism 1910 -1925

Texts by Bojana Popovic

following cubism 1910 -1925

Texts by Bojana Popovic

félix del marle Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré – 1913

serge férat Éloge de la musique – circa 1918

serge férat L’Homme à la guitare et au chien – circa 1918

albert gleizes Les Joueurs de football – 1912

albert gleizes Composition cubiste – 1913

albert gleizes Jazz – 1915

albert gleizes New York – 1915

albert gleizes Barcelone – 1916

JuaN gris Carafe, verre et damier – 1917

Henri hayden À la descente des marins – 1917

Auguste herbin Chêne-liège et aqueduc – 1913

FrantiŠek Kupka Autour d’un point – 1920 - 25

roger de la fresnaye Nature morte à la théière – circa 1912

roger de la fresnaye Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe – 1913

roger de la fresnaye Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot – circa 1920

Louis Marcoussis Nature morte à la guitare et au citron – 1913

léopold survage Baigneuses et baigneur – 1910

georges valmier Portrait de Raymond Courtois – 1915

georges valmier Paysage – 1920

Jacques villon Cavalier – 1914

Félix Del Marle

1889-1952

Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré

1913. Charcoal and pastel on paper. Signed, dated and titled lower right: F. M-D / étude pour portrait / 15 Novembre 1913. 62 x 48 cm. 24.4 x 18.9 in.

(Study for the Portrait of Jean Dupré)

Provenance

Exhibitions

Galerie Jean Chauvelin, Paris.

Paris, galerie Jean Chauvelin, Félix Del Marle, 6th June - 15th July 1973, p. 7, repr.

Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris. Private collection, Paris. Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris.

Venise, Palazzo Grassi, Futurismo & Futurismi, 4th May - 2nd October 1986, p. 278, repr.

related work Autoportrait, 1913, New York, Museum of Modern Art / J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Félix Del Marle

1889-1952

Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré

1913. Charcoal and pastel on paper. Signed, dated and titled lower right: F. M-D / étude pour portrait / 15 Novembre 1913. 62 x 48 cm. 24.4 x 18.9 in.

(Study for the Portrait of Jean Dupré)

Provenance

Exhibitions

Galerie Jean Chauvelin, Paris.

Paris, galerie Jean Chauvelin, Félix Del Marle, 6th June - 15th July 1973, p. 7, repr.

Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris. Private collection, Paris. Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris.

Venise, Palazzo Grassi, Futurismo & Futurismi, 4th May - 2nd October 1986, p. 278, repr.

related work Autoportrait, 1913, New York, Museum of Modern Art / J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Félix del marle Félix del marle Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré

Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré

After studying at the Académie des BeauxArts of Valenciennes and the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille, Félix Del Marle moved to Paris in 1912 where he met Apollinaire and Severini, the latter with whom he shared a studio. In 1913, after a flirtation with Cubism, Del Marle’s work became ostensibly Futuristic. In June of that same year, he joined the Italian artists Marinetti and Boccioni in an exhibition of Futurist works at the Galerie La Boétie in Paris. The Futurist movement only lasted three years, peaking in 1913. Del Marle, the only French artist to have joined Futurism, adopted an enthusiasm for the ideology of Marinetti and Boccioni, and in July 1913 published Le Manifeste futuriste à Montmartre in the magazine Paris-Jour.

This portrait shows the artist’s strong interest in Severini’s constructed canvases. As the two shared a studio, Del Marle was very familiar with the Italian’s work. In fact, Severini’s Self-Portrait 1912 (Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris) was painted in this shared studio six months earlier. Despite similarities in the deconstruction of the figure, Del Marle’s muted palette owes more to his Cubist forebears than to the Futurists’ colourful tones evident in Severini’s portrait. The flat patterned surface of this portrait is closer to that of Braque and Cubism than Severini’s three-dimensional style, as is his choice to leave some areas of the paper untouched. Noteworthy, however, is the original inclusion of bright yellow, blue and red chalk in certain areas. This portrait of Jean Dupré illustrates perfectly the artist’s interest in both Cubism and Futurism, drawing on elements from both movements to create something wholly original and characteristic. ––

Félix del marle Félix del marle Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré

Étude pour le portrait de Jean Dupré

Serge Férat Éloge de la musique

1881-1958

(Praise to Music)

Circa 1918. Oil on paper. Signed lower right: S. Férat.

Provenance

28 x 19 cm. 11 x 7.5 in.

Private collection, Belgium.

Galerie Berès, Paris.

Serge Férat Éloge de la musique

1881-1958

(Praise to Music)

Circa 1918. Oil on paper. Signed lower right: S. Férat.

Provenance

28 x 19 cm. 11 x 7.5 in.

Private collection, Belgium.

Galerie Berès, Paris.

Serge Férat

Serge Férat Éloge de la musique

Éloge de la musique

Count Serguei Jastrebzoff, born into a wealthy aristocratic family in Moscow the same year as Picasso, began his career studying law. However, by 1901, at the age of twenty, he had moved to Paris to pursue a passion for painting and attended classes under Bouguereau, a strong advocate of academic painting, at the Académie Julian. In 1911, after meeting Apollinaire, he took on the pseudonym Férat upon the latter’s suggestion and it remained with him for the rest of his life. Inspired by the Cubism of his new acquaintances Picasso and Braque, he began to paint whilst, at the same time, avidly collecting art works by his contemporaries. Férat had an equally prominent reputation for organizing gallant holidays and parties (often with Apollinaire). The leading figures in art at that time, Picasso among them, were only too happy to enjoy his hospitality and chaperone the wealthy artist in his exploration of the Montmartre milieu. The festivities ended abruptly given the political turmoil. Feeling the effects of the Russian Revolution, Férat destroyed many of his works, which explains their rarity on the market today.

Férat experimented with different artistic styles, giving into the seduction of avantgarde Cubism, whilst still retaining a distinct individuality. Some of his early still-lifes mimic the darker, muddier palette of Braque, whilst others, such as this work, contain a sense of vivacity and playfulness. Furthermore, the painter’s fondness for light-hearted fantasy led him to give an ever more surreal slant to the compositions he made during World War I. The work shown here embodies Férat’s artistic interests in creating chromatically complex works. Escaping the pictorial constraints of Cubism without denying its theoretical basis, Férat creates an abstract composition with a wealth of technical and chromatic variations worthy of the paintings title. The ethereal and spontaneous qualities of this work are testament to the artist’s passion for music. Sensual curves that intertwine across the painted surface are a clear allusion to the strings of the instruments, whilst the spots and dashes of juxtaposed bright colours resound like pizzicati. The differing hues,

ranging from black to white through most colours in the spectrum, are dispersed across the paper recalling changes in tone or atmosphere within a piece of music. The fact that this work is far less geometrically rigid gives it more spontaneity, once again appropriate to the fluid subject matter. ––

Serge Férat

Serge Férat Éloge de la musique

Éloge de la musique

Serge Férat

1881-1958

L’Homme à la guitare et au chien

(Guitar Player with a Dog)

Provenance

Circa 1918. Gouache and oil on paper. Signed lower right: S. Férat.

Private collection, Paris.

27.5 x 18.5 cm. 10.8 x 7.3 in.

Paris, Briest auction, 9th March 1987, lot 114.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Jeanne Haba Roussot, 20th May 1987.

Private collection, Paris. London, Sotheby’s auction, 25th October 2000, lot 215. Private collection, Belgium.

Serge Férat

1881-1958

L’Homme à la guitare et au chien

(Guitar Player with a Dog)

Provenance

Circa 1918. Gouache and oil on paper. Signed lower right: S. Férat.

Private collection, Paris.

27.5 x 18.5 cm. 10.8 x 7.3 in.

Paris, Briest auction, 9th March 1987, lot 114.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Jeanne Haba Roussot, 20th May 1987.

Private collection, Paris. London, Sotheby’s auction, 25th October 2000, lot 215. Private collection, Belgium.

Serge Férat Serge Férat L’Homme à la guitare et au chien

L’Homme à la guitare et au chien

Férat experimented with different artistic styles finally giving into the seduction of avant-garde Cubism, whilst still retaining a distinct individuality. Some of his early stilllifes mimic the darker, muddier palette of Braque, whilst others, such as this work, contain a sense of vivacity and playfulness. Furthermore, the painter’s fondness for lighthearted fantasy led him to give an ever more surreal slant to the compositions he made during World War I. At the beginning of the 20th century, Picasso held the reins of modern art and like many talented artists Férat was deeply influenced by this artist’s manner. In the composition presented here, one can see a move towards individual experimentation and perhaps even confrontation. L’Homme à la guitare et au chien is a typical composition of the artist for this date. Delicate curves are juxtaposed to the rigidity of the diamond suit of the harlequin. The flat patterned surface is very reminiscent of the collage-like effects so crucial to the

Cubists, yet the handling of the dog differs from this effect. Though simplified in colour and appearance, there is a certain level of three-dimensional realism that comes across. The dog is foreshortened whilst the use of darker colours on the inner parts of the legs indicates a three dimensional modelling. Even though the guitar looks heavily stylized and flattened by the intersecting black plane with white spots, the inclusion of the white hands appear far less abstract when compared to similar works by Picasso or Braque. The overall bright colour scheme in Férat’s works is typically more vivid and cheerful than that of his contemporaries. This dialogue between flat space and three-dimensionality shows Férat’s understanding of the artistic thoughts of his contemporaries and his willingness to buck convention and incorporate devices of different movements in his quest for individuality. ––

Serge Férat Serge Férat L’Homme à la guitare et au chien

L’Homme à la guitare et au chien

Albert Gleizes Les Joueurs de football

1912. Gouache on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 1912. 27.7 x 21.2 cm. 10.9 x 8.3 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 17th September 2004, and by Pierre Alibert on 7th March 1990.

1881-1953

(Football Players)

Provenance

Related work

Private collection, New York.

This gouache is to be compared to the very close oil version owned by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., published in Anne Varichon, Albert Gleizes, Catalogue raisonnĂŠ, Volume I, Paris, 1998, no. 404, p. 148, repr. (Les Joueurs de football, c. 1912-1913, 226 x 183 cm).

Albert Gleizes Les Joueurs de football

1881-1953

(Football Players)

Provenance

Related work

Private collection, New York.

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Les Joueurs de football

Les Joueurs de football

Albert Gleizes was a French painter and theorist strongly linked to the Cubist and abstract movements. Between 1906 and 1908 he actively helped to found the Abbaye de Créteil, a group of artists and writers promoting ideals of utopian socialism. In the years that followed, his style became more structured with stronger geometric clarity. His efforts were mirrored in the art of his contemporaries Le Fauconnier and Metzinger, who he met between 1909 and 1910. This interest led Gleizes to publish Du Cubisme in 1912 with Metzinger. This same year, they both exhibited with their friends of the Groupe de Puteaux at the Salon de la Section d’Or in the Galerie La Boétie. It was in the next few years that Gleizes’ style became heavily influenced by a four-year visit to New York where he gained noterietry. On his return to Europe he had a one-man show in the Dalmau Gallery in Barcelona which had already aligned itself closely with Cubist painters. The year Gleizes published Du Cubisme was a particularly fruitful one for the artist, not only in terms of propagating his written ideas, but also in his development as a painter. It was during this year that he produced several works that included or focused on football

players in mid-game. Les Joueurs de football displayed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, reuses elements of one of his earlier paintings entitled Les Ponts de Paris. An almost Futurist sensibility seems to come to light in this work as movement and physical strength are expressed through energetic forms and jagged lines.

Albert Gleizes, Les Joueurs de football, 1912-1913, National Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.

Severini quoted

Ibid, p. 30.

in P. Brooke, Albert Gleizes:

For and Against

Ibid.

the Twentieth Century, Yale, 2001, p. 31.

Gino Severini wrote in an essay about Gleizes, at the time of his death, that the Italians had been well received by the Cubists. In fact, he went on to say that “Gleizes was more generous and supportive than anyone’ to the Futurist cause.” 1 Like the Futurists, Gleizes struggled in particular with the “difficulty of reconciling the movement of a subject with the sense of movement that can be excited in the spectator using purely pictorial means.” 2 The drama is particularly evident in Les Joueurs de football, in which a “very powerful pictorial construction is undermined by the idea of aggressive movement, very rare for Gleizes, conveyed in the frozen gestures of the subject, the football players.” 3 This composition is a rare example of Gleizes’ ability to merge the static elements of Cubism with Futurism’s fascination with movement. ––

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Les Joueurs de football

Les Joueurs de football

Albert Gleizes, Les Joueurs de football, 1912-1913, National Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.

Severini quoted

Ibid, p. 30.

in P. Brooke, Albert Gleizes:

For and Against

Ibid.

the Twentieth Century, Yale, 2001, p. 31.

Albert Gleizes Composition cubiste

1881-1953

(Cubist Composition)

1913. Gouache on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 13. 27.7 x 26.2 cm. 10.9 x 10.3 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 2nd April 1999.

Provenance

Related work

Private collection, Belgium.

This drawing can be closely compared to the oil on canvas published in Anne Varichon, Albert Gleizes, Catalogue raisonnĂŠ, Volume I, Paris, 1998, no. 402, p. 147, repr. (Paysage avec moulin, 1913).

Albert Gleizes Composition cubiste

1881-1953

(Cubist Composition)

1913. Gouache on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 13. 27.7 x 26.2 cm. 10.9 x 10.3 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 2nd April 1999.

Provenance

Related work

Private collection, Belgium.

This drawing can be closely compared to the oil on canvas published in Anne Varichon, Albert Gleizes, Catalogue raisonnĂŠ, Volume I, Paris, 1998, no. 402, p. 147, repr. (Paysage avec moulin, 1913).

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Composition cubiste

Composition cubiste

After his participation in the Salon des Indépendants in 1911 alongside Léger, Delaunay and Metzinger, Gleizes’ style became the product of a Cubist mind-set. Composition cubiste, created just two years later, embodies this idealogy both in its aesthetic and in its subject matter (emphasised by the artist’s title). This particular work shows Gleizes’ skill at planning precise, abstract compositions whilst retaining a sense of the real. The subtlety with which he creates an interplay of light and shadow to heighten the intersecting architectural structures is done with confidence and resolution. What appear to be windows act like visual anchors giving the viewer a way of reading the scene. Upon closer inspection, the triangle of a roof, an arching architectural form, and a curved doorway are revealed. Looking at this piece, the aesthetic influence of Klee, Herbin, and Léger is apparent. ––

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Composition cubiste

Composition cubiste

Albert Gleizes

1881-1953

Jazz

1915. Oil on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 1915. 30.4 x 25.4 cm. 12 x 10 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 1st February 2005.

Provenance

Related works

Private collection, Belgium.

Anne Varichon, Catalogue raisonnĂŠ Albert Gleizes, Paris, Somogy, 1998, no. 608-610 (Jazz, c. 1915, charcoal and pencil on paper, 21 x 21 cm; Jazz, c. 1915, chacoal and pencil on paper, 32 x 27 cm; Composition pour Jazz, c. 1915, oil on cardboard, 73 x 73 cm (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York).

Albert Gleizes

1881-1953

Jazz

1915. Oil on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 1915. 30.4 x 25.4 cm. 12 x 10 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 1st February 2005.

Provenance

Related works

Private collection, Belgium.

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Jazz

Jazz

Albert Gleizes was a French painter and theorist strongly linked to the Cubist and abstract movements. Between 1906 and 1908 he actively helped to found the Abbaye de Créteil, a group of artists and writers promoting ideals of utopian socialism. In the years that followed, his style became more structured with stronger geometric clarity. His efforts were mirrored in the art of his contemporaries Le Fauconnier and Metzinger, who he met between 1909 and 1910. This interest led Gleizes to publish Du Cubisme in 1912 with Metzinger. This same year, they both exhibited with their friends of the Groupe de Puteaux at the Salon de la Section d’Or in the Galerie La Boétie. It was in the next few years that Gleizes’ style became heavily influenced by a four-year visit to New York where he gained notoriety. On 11th September 1915, Gleizes left France with his wife Juliette Roche for New York. Gleizes was already known by the American audience as he had participated in the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art at the

1 D. Robbins, The Formation and Maturity of Albert Gleizes; A Biographical and Critical Study, 1881-1920,

Armory in New York, in Chicago and Boston. In 1914, a group of his paintings had been bought by the collector John Quinn who had sent Walter Pach to Paris at the outbreak of the war to buy works by artists who had been called up. Although he began to create his first abstract works in 1914, he never fully abondoned figurative painting.

Michigan, 1975.

The first few months in New York were full of excitment for both Gleizes and his wife. They met Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia and enjoyed an exhiliarating night life. Their impressions were vividly recorded, his in a vast number of paintings and gouaches, and hers in Souvenirs which described their reactions to the city. Arriving during the late afternoon they drove to the Albermarle Hotel on 45th Street where they soon emerged to get a taste of their new neighbourhood. “After a few hours of wandering around they entered a retaurant to have dinner only to find a jazz group playing on the stage within. The black group of men played and sang with such emotion and force that the French couple felt they had witnessed something more sensational than the music of Stravinsky.” 1 It was after this moment that Gleizes captured the scene in his Composition pour Jazz and then Jazz.

It was not only the music that captivated the couple, but also the manner in which the instruments themselves (banjo, saxophone and bass) were brought to life through the muscians’ exhuberhant play, captured here with intersecting lines and jarring colours. The seemingly rapid execution of this work, along with the energized application of paint, embodies the sheer excitement felt by the artist when witnessing the jazz musicians play. It is as though he could not contain his joy when sketching his experience. Unlike many of Gleize’s far more rigid drawings, this work captures the boundless energy and emotion jazz music evoked in the artist. This significant work is one of the earliest examples of an artist depicting jazz music in painting and is linked to another work Gleizes produced at the same time that is in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. ––

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Jazz

Jazz

Albert Gleizes was a French painter and theorist strongly linked to the Cubist and abstract movements. Between 1906 and 1908 he actively helped to found the Abbaye de Créteil, a group of artists and writers promoting ideals of utopian socialism. In the years that followed, his style became more structured with stronger geometric clarity. His efforts were mirrored in the art of his contemporaries Le Fauconnier and Metzinger, who he met between 1909 and 1910. This interest led Gleizes to publish Du Cubisme in 1912 with Metzinger. This same year, they both exhibited with their friends of the Groupe de Puteaux at the Salon de la Section d’Or in the Galerie La Boétie. It was in the next few years that Gleizes’ style became heavily influenced by a four-year visit to New York where he gained notoriety. On 11th September 1915, Gleizes left France with his wife Juliette Roche for New York. Gleizes was already known by the American audience as he had participated in the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art at the

1 D. Robbins, The Formation and Maturity of Albert Gleizes; A Biographical and Critical Study, 1881-1920,

Michigan, 1975.

Albert Gleizes

1881-1953

New York

1915. Ink and pencil on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 15. 18.4 x 14 cm. 7.2 x 5.5 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 10th March 2001.

Provenance

Related works

Waterhouse & Dodd, London.

Anne Varichon, Catalogue raisonnĂŠ Albert Gleizes, Paris, Somogy, 1998, no. 622 (New York, 1915, ink on paper), no. 623 (ST New York, 1915, ink on paper), and no. 627 (Down Town, 1915, pencil on paper).

Private collection, Great Britain. Adler & Conkright Fine Art, New York. Private collection, Belgium.

Albert Gleizes

1881-1953

New York

1915. Ink and pencil on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 15. 18.4 x 14 cm. 7.2 x 5.5 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 10th March 2001.

Provenance

Related works

Waterhouse & Dodd, London.

Private collection, Great Britain. Adler & Conkright Fine Art, New York. Private collection, Belgium.

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes New York

New York

1 Gleizes quoted in R. Brooke, Albert Gleizes: For and Against the Twentieth Century,Yale, 2001, p. 53.

Gleizes’ arrival in New York had a sudden and profound effect on his creativity as he became fascinated and consumed by its imposing architectural structures. He expressed his feelings in a poem Dieu Nouveau describing the “vertical lines [that] are taken with vertigo and bend as they rise. Whole planes fall backwards and stop suddenly, supported by other planes that fall forwards. (…) All the fleeting lines turn like the spokes of wheel moving on its axis. They are impossible to grasp, and the very moment one thinks one has uncovered their intentions, they turn brutally on themselves and swoop down upon the eye, which has no time to avoid the attack.” 1 It is exactly this clashing of geometric forms that defines his cityscapes. Here, the hatched pen strokes evoke the busy city. Some of the structures are barely recognisable, while others are more obvious such as the rows of windows on the top left. The letter “W” signifies a

flicker of an advertisment, or a billboard sign, while the smoke-like forms in the foreground fracture our view of the street. Created in the autumn of 1915 during his initial visit to New York, this drawing encapsulates Gleizes’ mixed first impressions. Although the artist was clearly fascinated by this opportunity, his confusion and unease at entering this new and overpowering world seeps into his art as it does his poetry. Fundamentally, Gleizes believed in industrious progress and the Modern Age. His enthusiasm for New York and America is embodied in the work of this period. His wife however, introduced a note of ambivalence, when she wrote how Gleizes’ enthusiasm for New York was short-lived as he became more aware of the vast disparity of wealth and the mass of human deprivation that at first was concealed by the facade of flashing lights. ––

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes New York

New York

1 Gleizes quoted in R. Brooke, Albert Gleizes: For and Against the Twentieth Century,Yale, 2001, p. 53.

Albert Gleizes

1881-1953

Barcelone

1916. Ink on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 1916. 30 x 22 cm. 11.8 x 8.6 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 10th March 2001.

Provenance Galerie Zlotowski, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Albert Gleizes

1881-1953

Barcelone

1916. Ink on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Alb Gleizes 1916. 30 x 22 cm. 11.8 x 8.6 in. The authenticity of this drawing has been confirmed by Anne Varichon on 10th March 2001.

Provenance Galerie Zlotowski, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Barcelone

Barcelone

in the Dalmau Gallery in Barcelona which had already aligned itself closely with Cubist painters. In 1916, Albert Gleizes and his wife sailed from New York to Spain where they were joined by Marie Laurencin, Francis Picabia and his wife. The group spent the summer painting at the resort Tossa del Mar and in December, Gleizes had his first solo exhibition at the Dalmau Gallery in Barcelona. This work on paper, though abstract, retains Cubist and sculptural elements reminiscent of the work of Julio González, also active in Barcelona and Paris at the time. Perhaps, Gleizes, as a nod to the Spaniard, deliberately incorporated these elements when portraying his fellow artist’s hometown.

There is a spontaneity evident in the quickly sketched lines that make up this drawing. It is likely that this is the result of Gleizes drawing from life, and maybe this was initially meant to be a working drawing for a potential painting. Looking at another city-scape, Vista urbana, produced the same year one, can see how much sketchier Barcelone is. Thus, it is most likely that Gleizes wished to quickly record an impression of Barcelona that he was experiencing in the moment. ––

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes Barcelone

Barcelone

Juan Gris

1887-1927

Carafe, verre et damier

(Carafe, Glass and Chess Board)

July 1917. Charcoal on paper. Signed, dated, and dedicated upper left: A Madame Huidobro / Respectueuse Amitié / Juan Gris / Paris 7-17.

Provenance

Exhibition

Gift from the artist to Madame Huidobro, Paris, 1917.

Madrid, Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Juan Gris, curated by Gary Tinterow, 20th September - 24th November 1985, no. 147, repr.

47.5 x 31 cm. 18.7 x 12.2 in.

Galerie Cazeau Béraudière, Paris.

Huidobro collection, by descent, Santiago de Chili.

Private collection, Belgium.

Juan Gris

1887-1927

Carafe, verre et damier

(Carafe, Glass and Chess Board)

July 1917. Charcoal on paper. Signed, dated, and dedicated upper left: A Madame Huidobro / Respectueuse Amitié / Juan Gris / Paris 7-17.

Provenance

Exhibition

Gift from the artist to Madame Huidobro, Paris, 1917.

Madrid, Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Juan Gris, curated by Gary Tinterow, 20th September - 24th November 1985, no. 147, repr.

47.5 x 31 cm. 18.7 x 12.2 in.

Galerie Cazeau Béraudière, Paris.

Huidobro collection, by descent, Santiago de Chili.

Private collection, Belgium.

Juan Gris

Juan Gris Carafe, verre et damier

Carafe, verre et damier

“I consider that the architectural side of painting is mathematics, the abstract side; I want to humanise it”. 1

Juan Gris, born José Victoriano Carmel Carlos González Pérez, in Madrid, is regarded as a pioneer of Cubism along with Picasso and Braque. Shortly before moving to France in 1906, José González Pérez adopted the pseudonym Juan Gris. It has been argued he chose the name because “gris” means the same in both Spanish and French, reflecting his new dual nationality. 2 Gris began his artistic training studying mechanical drawing at the Escuela de Artes y Manufacturas in Madrid from 1902 to 1904. Upon moving to Paris in 1906, Gris solidified a reputation as a professional caricaturist, his satirical works being included in the journals Le Rire, L’Assiette au beurre, Le Charivari and Le Cri de Paris. 3 In Paris, Gris lived in the same building as Picasso and through him met Matisse, Braque and Léger. These relationships informed his art and it was through Picasso that Gris became involved in the Cubist movement. Gris is often described as a pure Cubist, his work retaining a certain level of clarity and lucidity in the keeping of visible shapes and figures in his aesthetic style. The insistence on “purity” in Gris’ practice was linked to the general claim that: “Cubist art was not so much an art of representation as one of ‘creation’, and that it transcended naturalism in such a way that the intellect and imagination could

J. Mai, Juan Gris’

G. Tinterow &

Compositional

D. Cooper, The

Symmetry

Essential Cubism:

Transformations,

Braque, Picasso

Bridges 2012,

& Their Friends,

p. 285.

1907-1920, Tate Publishing, London,

1983, pp. 134–97.

Mai, ibid, p. 283. 5 3

A. Temkin, Juan

G. Tinterow ed, Juan

Gris (1887-1927),

ed. G. Tinterow,

Ministerio de Cultura

p. 303.

y Banco de Bilbao, Madrid, 1985, p. 17.

work freely on a ‘poetic’ level.” 4 His œuvre is valued for its depth and consistency rather than its innovation. He is recognized as one of Cubism’s most influential later practitioners and theoreticians. At the start of World War I, Gris, as a foreigner in France, was able to avoid conscription and continue to work with undiminished energy throughout the war. In April 1916 he signed a contract with the dealer Léonce Rosenberg, with whom he worked for more than a decade. During the war, Gris was left to carry the standard for the Cubist movement almost alone whilst others such as Picasso began to drift away.

6 A. Temkin, ibid, p. 304.

By 1919 Gris was at the centre of what Jean Cocteau called the “return to order” in French culture. Whilst Picasso turned to Classical subjects and drawing techniques, Gris maintained his use of the Cubist style, yet in subject matter he continued the tradition of Spanish still life painting, known as bodegas. Later critics have compared this work to the calm orderliness of Spanish Baroque still-life painting, in particular Zurbáran. Gertrude Stein believed that the only real Cubism was that of Picasso and Gris – exuding clarity and exaltation. In his first Cubist style Gris achieved a novel combination of flattened Cubist structure and a lucid depiction of objects. He is known for his use of linear grids as a means of controlling the depiction of features from different

vantage points, allowing the composition to then reflect an overall flat structure. The carafe and glass have been created out of contrasting volumes, adhering to Cubist style, juxtaposed one to the other. This simplicity in form and perspectives is what is readily assigned to his very particular style. Gris’ preferred medium when drawing was limited to pencil and charcoal, described by art historian Ann Temkin as being: “soft mediums that allow a slow and deliberate realisation of the subject”. 5 The drawing Carafe, verre et damier, completed in 1917, has often been compared to a similar study in the Rijksmuseum, Kröller Müller collection, Bouteille et verre completed in 1916. Gris passed many of his drawings onto friends and confidants; this particular drawing was dedicated to the wife of the Chilean surrealist poet Vicente Huidobro who was staying in Paris in 1917. Huidobro, a friend of Juan Gris, was also acquainted closely with other intellectuals and artists of the period such as Apollinaire, Breton, and Éluard. Temkin explains: “The continued presence of the community of individuals in the pages of his drawings are assigned to his very intimate world of the omnipresent bottles, grapes and guitars. Every object is important because Gris has said so. He has literally inscribed it upon his drawings through the emotional dependencies that nurtured a language of pure art.” 6 ––

Juan Gris

Juan Gris Carafe, verre et damier

Carafe, verre et damier

“I consider that the architectural side of painting is mathematics, the abstract side; I want to humanise it”. 1

J. Mai, Juan Gris’

G. Tinterow &

Compositional

D. Cooper, The

Symmetry

Essential Cubism:

Transformations,

Braque, Picasso

Bridges 2012,

& Their Friends,

p. 285.

1907-1920, Tate Publishing, London,

1983, pp. 134–97.

Mai, ibid, p. 283. 5 3

A. Temkin, Juan

G. Tinterow ed, Juan

Gris (1887-1927),

ed. G. Tinterow,

Ministerio de Cultura

p. 303.

y Banco de Bilbao, Madrid, 1985, p. 17.

6 A. Temkin, ibid, p. 304.

Henri Hayden À la descente des marins

1917. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: Hayden 1917. Titled upper left: A la descente des marins. 58.5 x 72.5 cm. 23 x 28.5 in.

1883-1970

(The Sailors’ Return)

Provenance Suillerot collection, Paris. Select Artists Galleries, New York. H. Robert Greene collection. Christie’s, New York, 19th May 1978, lot 30. Arthur G. Altschul collection, New York. Galerie Hopkins Custot, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Henri Hayden À la descente des marins

1917. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: Hayden 1917. Titled upper left: A la descente des marins. 58.5 x 72.5 cm. 23 x 28.5 in.

1883-1970

(The Sailors’ Return)

Henri Hayden

Henri Hayden À la descente des marins

À la descente des marins

Henri Hayden belonged to the École de Paris and is predominantly know for his still life and landscape paintings. Born in Warsaw, he studied engineering at the Warsaw Polytechnic from 1902 - 1905, and also painting at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. Finding his passion in art, he moved to Paris in 1907 where he further attended art school. Between 1909 and 1918 he spent summers painting in Brittany and in 1911 had his first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Druet in Paris. His work reflects the influence of Cézanne and the Cubists. In 1915, he signed a contract with Léonce Rosenberg and joined the group of Cubist artists shown at the Galerie de l’Effort Moderne. Until 1921 he participated actively to the Cubist movement, developing strong friendships with Gris, Lipchitz and Picasso.

This picture is typical of Hayden’s Cubist work from his 1917 Brittany period. In this harbour scene we find the sign À la descente des marins referring to a bar of the same name found in Port Lesconil, where it still stands today. The incorporation of text and signs in painting was a device commonly used by the Cubists. Collage, another device favoured by the Cubist, is alluded to here through the artist’s use of superimposed planes of colour to mimic this effect. The faint outline of a sailing boat can be seen at the top right along with another moored in the foreground – the only legible marine references within the work. ––

Henri Hayden

Henri Hayden À la descente des marins

À la descente des marins

Auguste Herbin Chêne-liège et aqueduc

1913. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: Herbin. 81 x 65 cm. 31.9 x 35.6 in.

1882-1960

(Cork Tree and Aqueduct)

Provenance

Literature

Galerie de l’Effort moderne, Léonce Rosenberg, Paris.

Anatole Jakovski, Auguste Herbin, Paris, éditions AbstractionsCréation, 1933, p. 17.

Michael Boutin collection, Paris. Private collection, Paris. Arthur G. Altschul collection, New York (acquired in March 1964). Galerie Hopkins Custot, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Exhibition Paris, Galerie Moderne de Clovis Sagot, Auguste Herbin, 2nd - 17th March 1914, no. 49.

René Massat, Auguste Herbin, Paris, collection Prisme, repr. p. 14. Geneviève Claisse, Auguste Herbin, Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint, Lausanne, éditions du GrandPont, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1993, no. 305, p. 333.

Auguste Herbin Chêne-liège et aqueduc

1913. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: Herbin. 81 x 65 cm. 31.9 x 35.6 in.

1882-1960

(Cork Tree and Aqueduct)

Provenance

Literature

Galerie de l’Effort moderne, Léonce Rosenberg, Paris.

Anatole Jakovski, Auguste Herbin, Paris, éditions AbstractionsCréation, 1933, p. 17.

Michael Boutin collection, Paris. Private collection, Paris. Arthur G. Altschul collection, New York (acquired in March 1964). Galerie Hopkins Custot, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Exhibition Paris, Galerie Moderne de Clovis Sagot, Auguste Herbin, 2nd - 17th March 1914, no. 49.

Auguste Herbin

Aguste Herbin Chêne-liège et aqueduc

Chêne-liège et aqueduc

Chêne-liège et aqueduc was painted at a pivotal moment in Auguste Herbin’s career. Herbin spent the summer of 1913 in the company of Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris and Henri Matisse in Céret, a town in south east France close to the border with Spain and the Mediterranean coast. The paintings Herbin made during this period show a clear affinity with the ideas of his contemporaries, and it is notable that he exhibited alongside Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes and Fernand Léger at the 1910 Salon des Indépendants, and in 1912 participated in the influential Section d’Or exhibition.

Over the summer of 1913, Herbin produced twenty Cubist landscapes of the region around Céret, including the one presented here. These works are seminal in Herbin’s œuvre, for they are considered to mark the beginning in the development of his personal Cubist style. The geometric shapes employed are diverse – circles, triangles, along with parallelograms and ellipses – and establish a model of a purely pictorial language where the subject, as a result, becomes merely a pretext for the work. The forms of the landscape of Céret and its region remain recognizable in this painting: cork trees are known to grow on the slopes of the Canigou, while the Roman aqueduct is most likely the one that is located north of Céret. Nonetheless, these recognizable elements, such as the tree trunk with its

branches, are strikingly simplified, as are the arches of the aqueduct. The rest of the composition is disrupted by cutting lines and fragmented hues that suggest an altogether more abstract emphasis on bold chromatic patterns and visual effects. Though initially situating his art in the real, Herbin was one of the masters of bold explorations of colour and geometrically rendered compositions, eventually attaining total abstraction after 1917. Throughout his career, Herbin fluctuated between the abstract and the figurative, this painting is a wonderful example of his creative fascination with both styles. ––

Auguste Herbin

Aguste Herbin Chêne-liège et aqueduc

Chêne-liège et aqueduc

František Kupka Autour d’un point

1871-1957

(Around a Central Point)

1920 - 1925. Watercolour on paper. Signed lower right: Kupka. 27 x 29 cm. 10.6 x 11.4 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Pierre Brullé on 27th June 2001.

Provenance

Exhibition

Gertrude Stein Gallery, New York.

Berlin, Galerie Stolz, Von linie und farbe, May 2006, no. 28, repr.

Galerie Stolz, Berlin. Private collection, Belgium.

František Kupka Autour d’un point

1871-1957

(Around a Central Point)

1920 - 1925. Watercolour on paper. Signed lower right: Kupka. 27 x 29 cm. 10.6 x 11.4 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Pierre Brullé on 27th June 2001.

Provenance

Exhibition

Gertrude Stein Gallery, New York.

Berlin, Galerie Stolz, Von linie und farbe, May 2006, no. 28, repr.

Galerie Stolz, Berlin. Private collection, Belgium.

František Kupka

František Kupka Autour d’un point

Autour d’un point

František Kupka, born in Eastern Bohemia (now Czech Republic), began his artistic career in Paris in the 1890s working as a cartoonist and graphic designer specializing in fashion designs, posters and illustrations. His early training started at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, after which he moved to the Académie Julian and then studied with Jean-Pierre Laurens at the École des BeauxArts in Paris. Though his style developed in many different directions, aesthetic traits of his graphic training can inevitably be found in even his late works. The emphasis on construction, line and colour characterizes many of his paintings. While Kupka’s early works were founded in realism, his later, more famous works delved purely in the abstract. Thus, he played an important role in pioneering abstract art as well as reflecting scientific theories of the time through his artistic production. Kupka was in fact the first painter to exhibit fully abstract pictures in Paris in 1912 at the Salon d’Automne and became a prominent figure for breaking with tradition. While he refused to be placed under the banner of movements such as Orphism or Purism, in 1931 he became a founding member of Abstraction-Création.

František Kupka, Autour d’un point, 1920-1930,

This watercolour, Autour d’un point beautifully embodies Kupka’s later style and his life-long interests in the sciences. Kupka summarizes his view on the influence of science on contemporary art as follows: “The findings of modern science have an obvious influence on modern artists. Many of them are not infrequently, either consciously or subconsciously, pupils of the latest thinkers. Artists, as participants in the modern tragedy, are obliged to understand being and matter by means of analytical examination and strive to grasp their common significance.” 1 To do so, Kupka became actively involved in expanding his knowledge of all the sciences – he was an avid reader of literature on mechanics, physics, optics, chemistry, biology, physiology, neurology, and astronomy. At the Sorbonne in Paris he not only attended physiology lectures but also worked in the university’s biology laboratories. This fascination with the scientific advancements that were occurring around Kupka are displayed perfectly in this watercolour, which is part of a series of works produced between 1911 and 1930 on the theme of Autour d’un point. A contemporary painting of the same title is owned by the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Kupka quoted

Henri Poincaré

in D. Kosinski,

quoted in D.

Painting the

Kosinski, Painting

Universe František

the Universe

Kupka Pioneer in

František Kupka

Abstraction, Dallas,

Pioneer in

1997, p. 87-88.

Abstraction, Dallas, 1997, p. 104.

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Kupka’s Autour d’un point highlights the artist’s interest in responding visually to a theory on dynamic systems written by Henri Poincaré. A passage from Poincaré’s writings shed light on the visual forms evident in Kupka’s work in watercolour: “Does not everything that located the point in space seem to us as inadvertent, as our very self, assuming that we regard it as the center of its surroundings, where is it only an illusory point? How can we define an absolute situation in a space of which each of us regards himself at the center, in which our consciousness thinks it is located at the positive center.” 2 Kupka’s work has been linked to Newtonian ideas of gravitation in the way the entire composition appears to be drawn to a point as a result of a dragging force; as rotating circular shapes spiral across the paper and hark back to many of Kupka’s earlier canvases.

Kupka’s Autour d’un point is a strong example of his work from the 1920s – generally regarded as his most fruitful and important years. It was at this time that Kupka met his most devoted supporters: the industrialist and art collector Jindrich Waldes, who would support him both financially and emotionally for the next two decades, as well as the artists Antoine-Pierre Gallien and Félix Del Marle. In 1921, around the time of this work’s inception, Kupka held his first one-man show in Paris at Jacques Povolozky Galerie La Cible, 13 rue Bonaparte. Here, Arnould Gremilly presented a talk that formed the basis for the artist’s first monograph, published in 1922. Two years later, Kupka exhibited his works at Galerie La Boétie and in 1926 his Quatre histoires de blanc et noir was printed. Emmanuel Siblik published his biography of the artist in 1929 – the same year Kupka was asked to participate at the Expositions Sélectes d’Art Contemporain at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. His growing recognition inevitably meant these years were crucial in his development both as a public figure and an artist. Thus, Autour d’un point acts as a visual reminder of this groundbreaking point in Kupka’s career that would define his position in French art during the first half of the 20th century. ––

František Kupka

František Kupka Autour d’un point

Autour d’un point

František Kupka, Autour d’un point, 1920-1930,

Kupka quoted

Henri Poincaré

in D. Kosinski,

quoted in D.

Painting the

Kosinski, Painting

Universe František

the Universe

Kupka Pioneer in

František Kupka

Abstraction, Dallas,

Pioneer in

1997, p. 87-88.

Abstraction, Dallas, 1997, p. 104.

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Roger De la Fresnaye Nature morte à la théière

Circa 1912. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: R de La Fresnaye. 50 x 65 cm. 19.7 x 25.6 in.

1885-1925

(Still Life with Teapot)

Provenance

Related work

Fillioux collection, Paris.

Germain Seligman, Catalogue raisonné Roger de La Fresnaye, Neuchâtel, no. 159, p. 163, Nature morte à la théière, c. 1912, Musée national d’Art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Private collection, Paris.

Roger De la Fresnaye Nature morte à la théière

Circa 1912. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: R de La Fresnaye. 50 x 65 cm. 19.7 x 25.6 in.

1885-1925

(Still Life with Teapot)

Provenance

Related work

Fillioux collection, Paris.

Germain Seligman, Catalogue raisonné Roger de La Fresnaye, Neuchâtel, no. 159, p. 163, Nature morte à la théière, c. 1912, Musée national d’Art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Private collection, Paris.

Roger de La Fresnaye

Roger de La Fresnaye Nature morte à la théière

Nature morte à la théière

Generally regarded as a Cubist artist influenced by the work of his peers Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, La Fresnaye differentiated himself from their style by giving greater emphasize to palette than to composition, while his prismatic colours reflected the influence of Robert Delaunay. Between 1912 and 1914 La Fresnaye was an active member of the Section d’Or artistic group, and his work demonstrates a personal response to Cubism. La Fresnaye also became a member of the Groupe de Puteaux, an Orphist strand of Cubism led by Jacques Villon. With the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted in the French army but was discharged in 1918 after contracting tuberculosis. His health deteriorated rapidly after the war and with it his artistic production faltered. He never recovered the physical energy to undertake substantial work and in the later pieces that he did produce, he replaced the Cubist picture plane for a more linear style.

1 E.H. Payne, Four Faces of Cubism, in Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. 42, no. 1, Autumn, 1962, p 16.

La Fresnaye’s works show a marked feeling for decoration and classical refinement, which are as typical of his art as they are archetypally French. Possessing a sharp, analytical eye, he never relied purely on observation for his compositions, but like the Impressionists, resorted to his fertile imagination. “La Fresnaye was essentially an intellectual artist, who throughout his rather short career (fatal illness struck him down at the age of forty) believed that painting and drawing were problems to be solved by intellectual means.” 1 In 1912, the year La Fresnaye created this still life, he participated in the second exhibition of the Section d’Or at the Galerie La Boétie alongside Juan Gris, the DuchampVillon brothers, Gleizes, Metzinger and Marcoussis. With Nature morte à la théière, he began a series of still lifes in which he achieves a balance between the different compositional elements and imbues the work

with a sense of clarity and strength. In 1912, the theme of the teapot is combined with the water jug motif, the glass, the cup, and sometimes the coffee pot. Like in the other version of Nature morte à la théière, on display in the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, we can see how the artist presented objects in a manner that nods towards the synthetic Cubist technique, using austere tones from light brown to dark grey, like his contemporaries Picasso and Braque. The angle of the table gives perspective and depth to the composition while the contours of the pitcher blend with the planes of the background. In this composition, balance is achieved through a synthesis of volumes and gradations of colour. ––

Roger de La Fresnaye

Roger de La Fresnaye Nature morte à la théière

Nature morte à la théière

1 E.H. Payne, Four Faces of Cubism, in Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. 42, no. 1, Autumn, 1962, p 16.

Roger De la Fresnaye Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe

1913. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: R de La Fresnaye 13. 73 x 92 cm. 28.7 x 36.2 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by André Schoeller, in Paris, 14th March 2003.

1885-1925

(Still Life with Bottle and Pipe)

Provenance

Related works

Private collection, Paris (in the same family since the late 1920s).

Germain Seligman, Catalogue raisonné Roger de La Fresnaye, Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 1969, no. 173, p. 168 (Nature morte à la bouteille et pipe, 1913) and no. 175, p. 168 (Nature morte à la bouteille, pipe et pot de tabac).

Galerie Brame et Lorenceau, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Roger De la Fresnaye Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe

1913. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: R de La Fresnaye 13. 73 x 92 cm. 28.7 x 36.2 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by André Schoeller, in Paris, 14th March 2003.

1885-1925

(Still Life with Bottle and Pipe)

Provenance

Related works

Private collection, Paris (in the same family since the late 1920s).

Galerie Brame et Lorenceau, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe

Roger de La Fresnaye Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe

Roger de La Fresnaye

the war and with it his artistic production faltered. He never recovered the physical energy to undertake substantial work and in the later pieces that he did produce, he replaced the Cubist picture plane for a more linear style. This painting, entitled Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe, embodies Roger de La Fresnaye’s goal to attain a lasting equilibrium of simple curving forms rendered with a firm decisiveness. The emphasis upon sharp angles and planes reminds us that La Fresnaye was one of the group of Cubists who would meet in the studio of Jacques Villon in 1912. Moreover, his exquisite balance of tones mimics some of Picasso’s earthier still lifes. Although La Fresnaye incorporated Cubist techniques into his paintings, and here the collage-like squares in the background are a visual reference to the efforts of Braque and Picasso, he retained a naturalistic style and never fully embraced the radical dissection of form employed by his contemporaries.

True to the simplification and abstraction that appear in his large compositions, La Fresnaye favored a particular formal language in his series of still lifes from this period. The objects before us are arranged along strict verticals or horizontals, clearly silhouetted against the wood of the table, the yellow rectangles and orange background. La Fresnaye’s most successful still lifes are built around a central subject, a type of leitmotiv, like a bottle or pipe, placed on a table. Here, these recurring elements form a composition of clarity and subtle harmony. ––

Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe

Roger de La Fresnaye Nature morte à la bouteille et à la pipe

Roger de La Fresnaye

Roger De la Fresnaye Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot

Circa 1920. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left: La Fresnaye. 45.5 x 34.5 cm. 17.9 x 13.6 in.

1885-1925

(Harlequin, study for The Pierrot)

Provenance

Related works

André Schoeller collection, Paris.

Germain Seligman, Catalogue raisonné Roger de La Fresnaye, Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 1969, no. 341, p. 208 (Étude pour Le Pierrot, 1921, watercolour, ink, pencil on paper) and no. 342, p. 208 (Le Pierrot, 1922, oil on canvas).

Private collection, Paris.

Roger De la Fresnaye Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot

Circa 1920. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left: La Fresnaye. 45.5 x 34.5 cm. 17.9 x 13.6 in.

1885-1925

(Harlequin, study for The Pierrot)

Provenance

Related works

André Schoeller collection, Paris.

Private collection, Paris.

Roger de La Fresnaye Roger de La Fresnaye Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot

Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot

The present work, painted in 1920, shows a highly stylized figure of a harlequin. Though some depth is created through the subtle use of grey tones around the outlines, areas such as the face are reduced to rectangles, arches and a flat white surface, typical of the artist’s style at this time. Furthermore, the patternlike background is difficult to read, thus adding to the overall flatness of the composition. During this period, Paris became the hub for musical personalities, shows and acts, and the figure of the harlequin became an important subject for La Fresnaye and many of his contemporaries. Furthermore, in 1918 Jean Cocteau’s book Le Coq et l’Arlequin : Notes autour de la musique was published, again displaying the prominence of the harlequin as a symbol of popular performance available in the city at the time. ––

Roger de La Fresnaye Roger de La Fresnaye Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot

Arlequin, étude pour Le Pierrot

Louis Marcoussis Nature morte Ă la guitare et au citron

1913. Oil and pencil on paper mounted on board. Signed lower left: Marcoussis. Sheet: 11.8 x 9.5 cm. 4.6 x 3.7 in. Board: 15 x 12 cm. 5.9 x .7 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Solange Millet on 23rd March 2000

1883-1941

(Still Life with Guitar and Lemon)

Provenance Galerie BerĂ¨s, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Louis Marcoussis Nature morte Ă la guitare et au citron

1883-1941

(Still Life with Guitar and Lemon)

Provenance Galerie BerĂ¨s, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Louis Marcoussis Louis Marcoussis Nature morte à la guitare et au citron

Nature morte à la guitare et au citron

Louis Marcoussis was a Cubist painter and etcher, a prominent member of the School of Paris. Born in Warsaw as Ludwik Kazimierz Władysław Markus, he studied between 1901-1903 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow after which he left for Paris where he worked for three months in the studio of Jules Lefebvre at the Académie Julian. It was there that he met Roger de La Fresnaye and Robert Lotiron. He initially worked in the style of the Impressionists, but in 1910, after meeting Apollinaire, Braque and Picasso, he decided to join the Cubist movement. Two years later, in 1912, Marcoussis exhibited at the Salon de la Section d’Or. On Apollinaire’s advice, he took on a pseudonym – the name of the village of Marcoussis, near Paris. Nature morte à la guitare et au citron dates from the following year and is amongst the last works produced before the artist enlisted in World War I. It marks the early phase of Marcoussis’ experimentations with the Cubist aesthetic.

Nature morte à la guitare et au citron demonstrates Marcoussis’ evolution from realism to abstraction. When compared with similar compositions from the 1920s, this work illustrates the early phases of the artist’s development towards Cubism, marking his decisive move away from Impressionism. The use of thinned oil paint is typical of Marcoussis’ preference for a spontaneous style over clean lines and angles, setting this work apart from those of his Cubist contemporaries. Nonetheless, the lines that dissect the picture surface, and the manner in which he obliterates realistic depth, particularly in his rendering of the guitar and table, certainly show the artist’s interest to move toward the Cubist style. The use of uniform blue dashes in the lower left corner adds to flattening of the composition, while the inclusion of a guitar relates directly to Picasso’s renowned still lifes featuring the same motif. The simplified palette, predominantly limited to browns, greens and blues, is appropriate to the Cubist ideals of the time. Overall, this work is exemplary of Marcoussis’ early experiments with Cubism, illustrating certain typical characteristics of the style whilst retaining his own individual interpretation. ––

Louis Marcoussis Louis Marcoussis Nature morte à la guitare et au citron

Nature morte à la guitare et au citron

LĂŠopold Survage Baigneuses et baigneur

1910. Ink on paper. Signed, dated and dedicated lower right: A son ami Larionov / L. Survage / 1910. 30 x 32 cm. 11.8 x 12.6 in.

1879-1968

(Bathers)

Provenance Larionov collection. Private collection, Paris. Galerie Zlotowski, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

LĂŠopold Survage Baigneuses et baigneur

1910. Ink on paper. Signed, dated and dedicated lower right: A son ami Larionov / L. Survage / 1910. 30 x 32 cm. 11.8 x 12.6 in.

1879-1968

(Bathers)

Provenance Larionov collection. Private collection, Paris. Galerie Zlotowski, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Léopold Survage

Léopold Survage Baigneuses et baigneur

Baigneuses et baigneur

Survage was a Russian-born artist who began his artistic career within the Modern Russian movement through the collections of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, and by 1906, was loosely associated with the journal Zolotoye runo (Golden fleece). Before moving to Paris in 1908 he was acquainted and exhibited with Alexander Archipenko, David Burlyuk, Vladimir Burlyuk, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova. When Survage arrived in Paris, the artistic centre of Europe, he was introduced by Apollinaire to Picasso, Severini and Delaunay, as well as the circle of Baroness Hélène Oettingen. Survage exhibited with the Jack of Diamonds group in Moscow in 1910 and first showed his work in France in the Salon d’Automne of 1911. Once settled in Paris, he briefly attended the short-lived school run by Henri Matisse.

This work, entitled Baigneuses et baigneur, belongs to a transitional period where Survage was moving away from the language of Cubism and instead opted for new plastic solutions that would culminate in his colourful rhythms of 1912-1914, a form of abstract cartoon based on an analogy between the colourful visual form and music. The twisting curvaceous shapes of the bathers bend and intertwine to create what appears to be a single, unified form. Only the seated figure in the foreground is shown in her entirety, simplified, with all unnecessary detail eradicated. The dance-like poses of the nudes in the background and the sinuous flowing lines that define their contour, are certainly reminiscent of Matisse’s nudes, reminding us that Survage attended Matisse’s art school and was inevitably influenced by his teacher’s style.

Cubism is still evident in the manner in which Survage distributes cross-hatching across the composition. While the reclining figure is rendered with realistic tonal variation, other figures are treated more abstractly. Rather than using striations to give solidity to his forms, they are spread almost in a patternlike manner, particularly in the central area of the composition. Baigneuses et baigneur is exemplary of Survage’s transitional style where the influences of his Russian heritage, Matisse’s training and the Cubist movement can all be found within a single drawing. ––

Léopold Survage

Léopold Survage Baigneuses et baigneur

Baigneuses et baigneur

Georges Valmier Portrait de Raymond Courtois

October 1915. Oil on canvas. Signed, dated and dedicated lower right: A Raymond CourtoisÂ / affectueusement / G. Valmier Octobre 1915. 61 x 50 cm. 24 x 19.7 in. The authenticity of this painting has been confirmed by Denise Bazetoux, on 14th June 2001

1885-1937

(Portrait of Raymond Courtois)

Provenance Private collection, Paris. Galerie BerĂ¨s, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Georges Valmier Portrait de Raymond Courtois

1885-1937

(Portrait of Raymond Courtois)

Provenance Private collection, Paris. Galerie BerĂ¨s, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Georges Valmier Georges Valmier Portrait de Raymond Courtois

Portrait de Raymond Courtois

Georges Valmier was an artist whose style developed in line with the key movements of modern painting, from Impressionism, to Cubism, and finally Abstraction. He is arguably best known for the paintings created during his Cubist and abstract phases. From as early as 1909, Valmier explored the Cubist style independently from Braque and Picasso, whom he only befriended years later. From 1918 until his death, Valmier was represented by Léonce Rosenberg, whose Galerie l’Effort Moderne was the meeting point for many Cubist artists, including Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, August Herbin and Henri Laurens. Inevitably Valmier’s interactions with some of these leading artists influenced his own artistic development. In 1921, Valmier’s first one-man show was held at Rosenberg’s gallery, and during 1923-1927 his work was frequently published in Rosenberg’s magazine. It was during the late 1910s that Valmier’s art became most affiliated with the pictorial language of Cubism, and colourful works of this period contributed greatly to the understanding of the movement.

Painted in 1915, Portrait de Raymond Courtois is a relatively early work by the artist, and one of few surviving paintings from his World War I period. Much of his work of this period consists of portraits of his contemporaries. Prior to the war, Valmier was associated with several Cubist artists in Paris, and was particularly influenced by the work of Albert Gleizes. The two artists met when they were conscripted to serve with an infantry regiment at Toul in Lorraine in 1914. There they came into contact with Major Lambert, who allowed both artists the freedom to continue painting while serving in the army. Valmier’s portrait of Lambert is one the few extant works dating from the same period. While stylistically comparable, our portrait of Raymond Courtois is even more abstracted. The way Valmier renders the dissected surface of the man’s face is reminiscent of the work of Braque, which Valmier would have seen at the 1907 Salon d’Automne. Similarly, the manner in which he creates an angular geometric surface out of the sitter’s blue shirt nods to the Cubist style

of his peers. The flattened surface is further heightened in the way the sitter appears to merge with the background itself. When compared to the work of his Cubist contemporaries, Valmier’s paintings are defined by their bright palette, representative of his masterful use of colour. ––

Georges Valmier Georges Valmier Portrait de Raymond Courtois

Portrait de Raymond Courtois

Georges Valmier Paysage

(Landscape)

1920. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left: G. Valmier. 81 x 100 cm. 32 x 39.3 in.

1885-1937

Provenance

Literature

Léonce Rosenberg collection, Paris.

Denise Bazetoux, Georges Valmier, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, éditions Noème, 1993, no. 230, repr. p. 89.

Private collection, New York. Private collection, Belgium. Private collection, Paris.

Georges Valmier Paysage

(Landscape)

1920. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left: G. Valmier. 81 x 100 cm. 32 x 39.3 in.

1885-1937

Provenance

Literature

Léonce Rosenberg collection, Paris.

Denise Bazetoux, Georges Valmier, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, éditions Noème, 1993, no. 230, repr. p. 89.

Private collection, New York. Private collection, Belgium. Private collection, Paris.

Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier Paysage

Paysage

Georges Valmier’s notoriety grew during the 1920s in line with the development of his personal style. By the early 1930s, Valmier abandoned Cubism in favour of abstraction, and this work of the early 1920s begins to demonstrate his interest in abstract forms. In a departure from his earlier work, Valmier eradicated legible symbols in this 1920 composition. Though the title indicates it to be a landscape, the vivid hues and structured planes of colour, as well as the methodically dispersed circular rings, make it challenging to decipher. The horizontal nature of the piece is perhaps most emblematic of the subject matter. The simplification of forms to their purest manifestation and the importance of clean lines so crucial to the works of Le Corbusier for example, can also be found in Valmier’s artistic production of the 1920s and 1930s. Here, a vivid jovial palette, reflecting the influence of Delaunay, is combined with vibrant overlapping shapes to create a bright and playful canvas. This particular work in oil is among the artist’s more complex

abstract arrangements, setting it apart as an especially eloquent example of the artist’s ability to construct an elaborately harmonious composition – one full of balance, clarity and colour. ––

Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier Paysage

Paysage

Jacques Villon Cavalier

1875-1963

(The Horseman)

1914. Watercolour and ink on paper. Signed and dated lower right: Jacques Villon 14. 30.5 x 46.5 cm. 12 x 18.3 in. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Patrick Bongers and will be included in the Catalogue raisonnĂŠ de Jacques Villon, currently being prepared by Louis CarrĂŠ and Patrick Bongers.

Provenance Galerie Lionel Pissarro, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Jacques Villon Cavalier

1875-1963

(The Horseman)

Provenance Galerie Lionel Pissarro, Paris. Private collection, Belgium.

Jacques Villon

Jacques Villon Cavalier

Cavalier

Jacques Villon, whose real name was Gaston Duchamp, older brother of Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Marcel Duchamp, was probably the most famous French peintregraveur of the 20th century. Though he was a painter of considerable gifts, his best and most characteristic work is found in his etchings. While still a boy, he became familiar with the copper plate medium through his grandfather Émile Nicolle, and later that medium became, for him, a constant source of inspiration, rather than just a means of multiplying his designs. From 1899 Villon began focusing on making serious prints, instead of the caricatures he had been producing up to that point. These were exhibited for the first time in 1901 at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. By 1903 he had gained a reputation in Paris and organized the first Salon d’Automne. Keen to develop beyond printmaking, he studied painting at the Académie Julian and worked in a Neo-Impressionist manner. His printmaking, formerly influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec, moved towards the fashionable style of Paul-César Helleu.

1 H. Joachim, Jacques Villon, Chicago, 1927, p. 4.

Around 1907 Villon’s style evolved as he detached himself from narrative detail in favour of form and composition. He later participated in the Fauvist and Cubist movements, becoming close friends with Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Henri Le Fauconnier, Fernand Léger and Robert Delaunay, who, in showing their work together at the Salon des Indépendants in 1911, had triggered an uproar as proponents of Cubism. In the works of this year, the trend towards Cubism gained momentum and the period 19131914 is described as the “absolute pinnacle of his achievement”. 1 In the areas of black cross-hatching on top of a light wash, the distinct influence of etching is clear in this work. The title Cavalier places it in traditional French history painting such Géricault or David, but in this work Villon dispels of all the notions key to academic painting. The medium becomes as important as the abstracted subject matter. The lines that dissect the composition into various shades of gray, show the influence of Cubism, as does the overall palette. Cavalier is a beautiful example of Villon’s mature painterly style and his fascination with line and subtle changes in tone. ––

Jacques Villon

Jacques Villon Cavalier

Cavalier

1 H. Joachim, Jacques Villon, Chicago, 1927, p. 4.

We wish to express our deep gratitude for their contribution to this catalogue: Antoine Bechet, framing, Paris, Laure Ber trand Pudles, graphic design, Brussels, Dominique Choffel, coordination, Paris, Giovanna Grassi, editing, London, Nicolas Lemmens Studio, restoration, Brussels, Thierry Ollivier, photographies, Paris, Bojana Popovic, writing, London, Luc Schrobiltgen, photographies, Brussels, Edouard Sebline, Ar t Spec Fine Ar t Insurance, Brussels.

Printing by Paperland, Belgium. ÂŠ SABAM Belgium 2014 ISBN: 978-0-9567977-3-5

Syndicat national des antiquaires

Printing by Paperland, Belgium. ÂŠ SABAM Belgium 2014 ISBN: 978-0-9567977-3-5

Syndicat national des antiquaires