1904
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See also : London and Venice Northern Europe Orientalism Wild West
See also : London and Venice Northern Europe Orientalism Wild West
masterpiece
1904 Luxe, Calme et Volupté by Matisse
Musée d'Orsay
Henri Matisse was a member of the Société des Artistes Indépendants since 1901. In July 1904, the Matisse family is visiting Signac in his Saint-Tropez home. Matisse is not interested in the physiological theories of colors, and the two artists quarrel. After that stay, their mutual influence will become fertile.
With Luxe, Calme et Volupté painted in the fall of 1904 and acquired by Signac, Matisse tries the pure colors of the rainbow with a divisionist touch.
Matisse had learned from Signac the mosaic-like arrangement of pigment. Signac re-used that technique for his views of Venice in 1905.
The views of the Golden Horn painted by Signac in 1907 after his stay in Constantinople display Matisse's Fauvist principles while adding his signature search for an extreme brightness.
With Luxe, Calme et Volupté painted in the fall of 1904 and acquired by Signac, Matisse tries the pure colors of the rainbow with a divisionist touch.
Matisse had learned from Signac the mosaic-like arrangement of pigment. Signac re-used that technique for his views of Venice in 1905.
The views of the Golden Horn painted by Signac in 1907 after his stay in Constantinople display Matisse's Fauvist principles while adding his signature search for an extreme brightness.
1904 The Finding of Moses on the Nile by Alma-Tadema
2010 SOLD for $ 36M by Sotheby's
No painter is more typical of Victorian and Edwardian art than Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. We are therefore surprised to know that this artist, in fact, was of Dutch origin.
He followed a theme that appealed to the public of his time: the exotic antiques. He was amazed by the collections of the British Museum, and featured his characters amidst monuments for which he relied on photographs. He particularly liked the marble seats in which he showed languid ladies.
Strong personality, he had managed his career and became wealthy and famous. His name was Laurens Alma Tadema, which he adapted to be better positioned in alphabetical lists. He gave an opus number to each of his paintings, creating himself a record that protected his work against counterfeits.
He would not adapt to the trends of modern art, and was forgotten for more than half a century after his death.
The Opus CCCLXXVII is a commissioned work for the benefit of the engineer who had invited him in 1902 at the opening of the Aswan Dam.
Completed in 1904, this large oil on canvas, 137 x 213 cm, shows a scene from the finding of Moses on the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter is surrounded by an opulent procession of servants and slaves. From the top of her carriage, she fondly looks at the baby in his basket, carried by two women.
It was sold for $ 2.7M by Christie's on May 25, 1995 and for $ 36M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2010. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
He followed a theme that appealed to the public of his time: the exotic antiques. He was amazed by the collections of the British Museum, and featured his characters amidst monuments for which he relied on photographs. He particularly liked the marble seats in which he showed languid ladies.
Strong personality, he had managed his career and became wealthy and famous. His name was Laurens Alma Tadema, which he adapted to be better positioned in alphabetical lists. He gave an opus number to each of his paintings, creating himself a record that protected his work against counterfeits.
He would not adapt to the trends of modern art, and was forgotten for more than half a century after his death.
The Opus CCCLXXVII is a commissioned work for the benefit of the engineer who had invited him in 1902 at the opening of the Aswan Dam.
Completed in 1904, this large oil on canvas, 137 x 213 cm, shows a scene from the finding of Moses on the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter is surrounded by an opulent procession of servants and slaves. From the top of her carriage, she fondly looks at the baby in his basket, carried by two women.
It was sold for $ 2.7M by Christie's on May 25, 1995 and for $ 36M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2010. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1904 Waterloo Bridge by Monet
1
effet de brume
2022 SOLD for £ 30M by Christie's
Monet painted 41 views of the elegant Waterloo bridge, 37 views of Charing Cross bridge and 19 views of the Towers of Parliament. On May 13, 2021, Christie's sold for $ 48M Waterloo Bridge effet de Brouillard, oil on canvas 66 x 100 cm dated 1903, lot 8 B.
On June 28, 2022, Christie's sold for £ 30M Waterloo Bridge, effet de brume by Monet, lot 34.
This oil on canvas 65 x 100 cm dated 1904 displays a moment in the early morning on the scenery of the bridge viewed from the East. The yellow bursts of the sunlit break through a misty haze in a radiant glow promising a brighter weather, rarely found in the Waterloo Bridge paintings. Golden reflections appear in the river. The far bank is nearly canceled by the mist.
Belonging since 1851 to the Bulova family of watchmakers, this painting had been recently on long term loan to the Basel Kunstmuseum.
On June 28, 2022, Christie's sold for £ 30M Waterloo Bridge, effet de brume by Monet, lot 34.
This oil on canvas 65 x 100 cm dated 1904 displays a moment in the early morning on the scenery of the bridge viewed from the East. The yellow bursts of the sunlit break through a misty haze in a radiant glow promising a brighter weather, rarely found in the Waterloo Bridge paintings. Golden reflections appear in the river. The far bank is nearly canceled by the mist.
Belonging since 1851 to the Bulova family of watchmakers, this painting had been recently on long term loan to the Basel Kunstmuseum.
#AuctionUpdate #ClaudeMonet’s ‘Waterloo Bridge, effet de brume’ achieves £30,059,500. The work is a key painting from Monet’s landmark series, ‘Vues du Londres (Views of London)’, in which he evocatively captures the shifting character of the famous bridge. pic.twitter.com/EKPl0vOA9E
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) June 28, 2022
2
temps couvert
2007 SOLD for £ 18M by Christie's
Monet used to observe the Waterloo bridge in the morning when the sun was rising behind it. He considered Charing Cross bridge when the sun light had turned and Westminster from Saint Thomas's later in the afternoon.
Waterloo Bridge temps couvert, oil of canvas 65 x 100 cm dated 1904, was sold for £ 18M by Christie's on June 18, 2007, lot 14, from a lower estimate of £ 6M. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This view displays three areas of bright yellow sun light, in the sky revealing the shore, under the arches of the bridge, and on the rippling surface of the river in front of the shadow of the bridge.
Waterloo Bridge temps couvert, oil of canvas 65 x 100 cm dated 1904, was sold for £ 18M by Christie's on June 18, 2007, lot 14, from a lower estimate of £ 6M. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This view displays three areas of bright yellow sun light, in the sky revealing the shore, under the arches of the bridge, and on the rippling surface of the river in front of the shadow of the bridge.
1904 Nymphéas by Monet
2007 SOLD for £ 18.5M by Sotheby's
In 1893, when Claude Monet obtains the administrative authorization to create a pond in his garden at Giverny, he already knows that it will be a laboratory for his artistic creation. He was then interested in the reflections in the water of the tall trees and of the Japanese bridge.
Monet is an amateur but careful and skilled horticulturist. Without having his original preference, the water lilies impose themselves as his most prolific theme, up to obsession. Unlike the ivy on the wall, they will not cover the entire available surface. Spreading their leaves flush with water, they materialize in perspective the real surface of the pond.
From 1904 to 1908, Monet produced his first series of Nymphéas. With more than 60 paintings which he wants all different from one another, the artist expresses the most subtle variations of color and light, changing the distance and population of the flowers, the importance of the reflections from the trees and the expressive power of color.
The horizon disappears, the details become abstract but the botanical accuracy remains. An early example in this new figurative style, dated 1904, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5M by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007, lot 7. In this close-up view, the edge of the pond is already off the field, also providing an impression of infinity that anticipates Mondrian.
Monet is an amateur but careful and skilled horticulturist. Without having his original preference, the water lilies impose themselves as his most prolific theme, up to obsession. Unlike the ivy on the wall, they will not cover the entire available surface. Spreading their leaves flush with water, they materialize in perspective the real surface of the pond.
From 1904 to 1908, Monet produced his first series of Nymphéas. With more than 60 paintings which he wants all different from one another, the artist expresses the most subtle variations of color and light, changing the distance and population of the flowers, the importance of the reflections from the trees and the expressive power of color.
The horizon disappears, the details become abstract but the botanical accuracy remains. An early example in this new figurative style, dated 1904, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5M by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007, lot 7. In this close-up view, the edge of the pond is already off the field, also providing an impression of infinity that anticipates Mondrian.
1904-1908 Sommertag by Munch
2021 SOLD for £ 16.3M by Sotheby's
The cycle of life is the great obsession of Edvard Munch. The stages from love to death are an inexorable tragedy generating a growing anguish : illusion, despair, infidelity, jealousy, humiliation, separation. The artist himself fails to peacefully satiate his sex life.
His meeting in 1902 with Dr. Linde is a relief. Linde, a great fan of Rodin, immediately writes a monograph on Munch's art. In 1904 he commissions a series of paintings from the artist to decorate the children's room in his villa in Lübeck.
Munch achieves this project with about eleven pieces, mostly beach scenes. The artist's old demons have not been annihilated : Linde rejects the set because a few couples are too risque to be seen by his young sons. The paintings, which will be identified as the Linde frieze, are returned to Munch.
Sommertag, summer day, oil on canvas 90 x 195 cm, is an opus from the Linde cycle. Groups of girls symbolize innocence. Unlike Girls on the Bridge, the characters lose their individuality : white dresses and long blond hair are intertwined in blocks.
Munch reworks this painting at an undetermined date. The image becomes Omfavnelse, the embrace. A dark couple has been added to the foreground. The blurry man lowers his head to kiss the woman whose oversized black-rimmed eyes express partner rejection and fear. They are transparent ghosts through which we can see the sea and the shore. The Scream, in 1893, left the possibility of some rescue. Omfavnelse is the post mortem phase. Its terminus ante quem is the great breakdown of the artist in 1908.
Summer day - the Embrace was sold by Sotheby's for £ 6.2M on February 7, 2006, lot 34, and for £ 16.3M on March 25, 2021, lot 115. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
His meeting in 1902 with Dr. Linde is a relief. Linde, a great fan of Rodin, immediately writes a monograph on Munch's art. In 1904 he commissions a series of paintings from the artist to decorate the children's room in his villa in Lübeck.
Munch achieves this project with about eleven pieces, mostly beach scenes. The artist's old demons have not been annihilated : Linde rejects the set because a few couples are too risque to be seen by his young sons. The paintings, which will be identified as the Linde frieze, are returned to Munch.
Sommertag, summer day, oil on canvas 90 x 195 cm, is an opus from the Linde cycle. Groups of girls symbolize innocence. Unlike Girls on the Bridge, the characters lose their individuality : white dresses and long blond hair are intertwined in blocks.
Munch reworks this painting at an undetermined date. The image becomes Omfavnelse, the embrace. A dark couple has been added to the foreground. The blurry man lowers his head to kiss the woman whose oversized black-rimmed eyes express partner rejection and fear. They are transparent ghosts through which we can see the sea and the shore. The Scream, in 1893, left the possibility of some rescue. Omfavnelse is the post mortem phase. Its terminus ante quem is the great breakdown of the artist in 1908.
Summer day - the Embrace was sold by Sotheby's for £ 6.2M on February 7, 2006, lot 34, and for £ 16.3M on March 25, 2021, lot 115. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1904-1906 Vallier by Cézanne
2007 SOLD for $ 17.4M by Christie's
From Les Joueurs de Cartes, peasants and country laborers represent the authentic figures of mankind for Cézanne. In 1902, when he opens his studio at Chemin des Lauves for facing the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, he is an ailing man of 63.
The property around the new studio is tended by a gardener named Vallier. The artist has a friendship for this elderly man who represents the last age of life. Cézanne now works very slowly, ever in quest of the suitable color and luminosity for every stroke. Although the portraits of Vallier are a major theme of this phase, he realizes only six watercolors and three oils, still working on one of them when he dies in 1906.
Portrait de Vallier, watercolor over pencil on paper 48 x 31 cm, was sold for $ 17.4M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 31. Interestingly, in this ultimate phase of Cézanne's ever innovating process, the forms are created by the colors, the underlying pencil lines being used as a mere sketching.
Vallier is seated on a chair. His white shirt attests of summer's warm weather. He is stooped and his eyes behind the straw hat's rim and his mouth behind the long white beard do not bring an expression to this allegorical figure. The foliage envelops him with no details, like a halo. Interestingly, another theme of the same period is the still life of skulls.
This watercolor is a preparation to an oil painting made in 1906 with the same cross hands and cross legs attitude of the sitter, kept at the Tate Gallery. Christie's proposes convincingly 1904-1906 for the date range of the watercolor.
The property around the new studio is tended by a gardener named Vallier. The artist has a friendship for this elderly man who represents the last age of life. Cézanne now works very slowly, ever in quest of the suitable color and luminosity for every stroke. Although the portraits of Vallier are a major theme of this phase, he realizes only six watercolors and three oils, still working on one of them when he dies in 1906.
Portrait de Vallier, watercolor over pencil on paper 48 x 31 cm, was sold for $ 17.4M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 31. Interestingly, in this ultimate phase of Cézanne's ever innovating process, the forms are created by the colors, the underlying pencil lines being used as a mere sketching.
Vallier is seated on a chair. His white shirt attests of summer's warm weather. He is stooped and his eyes behind the straw hat's rim and his mouth behind the long white beard do not bring an expression to this allegorical figure. The foliage envelops him with no details, like a halo. Interestingly, another theme of the same period is the still life of skulls.
This watercolor is a preparation to an oil painting made in 1906 with the same cross hands and cross legs attitude of the sitter, kept at the Tate Gallery. Christie's proposes convincingly 1904-1906 for the date range of the watercolor.
1904 the Historic Pink Diamond
2015 SOLD for CHF 14.8M by Sotheby's
The famous reclusive heiress Huguette Clark owned a big cushion brilliant-cut fancy vivid pink diamond. Introduced as the highlight of her jewels, it remained unsold at auction in 2012 on a lower estimate of $ 6M.
Ancient diamonds have a potential for improvement. For example, Graff removed 4 carats from his Blaue Wittelsbacher to improve its clarity.
In her estate, the Clark diamond weighed 9.00 carats with a SI1 clarity that was indeed not exciting.
When it was listed by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015, it has been reduced to 8.72 carats to improve its clarity to VS2, guaranteed by GIA. Mounted on a ring between two small D color diamonds, this gem was sold for CHF 14.8M, lot 460.
Its provenance was also researched and it received the name of Historic pink. This diamond had been bought by Dreicer at the auction of the estate of Mathilde Bonaparte in Paris in June 1904.
Ancient diamonds have a potential for improvement. For example, Graff removed 4 carats from his Blaue Wittelsbacher to improve its clarity.
In her estate, the Clark diamond weighed 9.00 carats with a SI1 clarity that was indeed not exciting.
When it was listed by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015, it has been reduced to 8.72 carats to improve its clarity to VS2, guaranteed by GIA. Mounted on a ring between two small D color diamonds, this gem was sold for CHF 14.8M, lot 460.
Its provenance was also researched and it received the name of Historic pink. This diamond had been bought by Dreicer at the auction of the estate of Mathilde Bonaparte in Paris in June 1904.
The Historic Pink Diamond, believed to have belonged to Princess Mathilde, Napoleon I's niece, sells for US$ 15.9m pic.twitter.com/sKfQPt92MY
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 12, 2015
1904 Grand Canyon by Moran
2014 SOLD for $ 12.5M by Christie's
In 1871, the Hayden survey explores and describes Yellowstone. Nature had created without human help some fabulous romantic landscapes. The scientists are accompanied by two young artists, the photographer WH Jackson and the painter Thomas Moran.
Photos are black and white at that time, so it was left to the paintings of Moran to display to the Americans the extraordinary colors of the Rocky Mountains. Even the Congress is charmed by these images. In 1872 the first national park is established in Yellowstone.
Moran was seduced by this theme that occupied him for his entire career. Inspired by Turner's art, he expressed the deep sensitivity of the landscape in a sharp line that respected the geological realism.
On May 22, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 12.5M from a lower estimate of $ 8M an oil on canvas 75 x 152 cm painted in 1904. Thos panoramic view in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado is expressive and contrasted.
Photos are black and white at that time, so it was left to the paintings of Moran to display to the Americans the extraordinary colors of the Rocky Mountains. Even the Congress is charmed by these images. In 1872 the first national park is established in Yellowstone.
Moran was seduced by this theme that occupied him for his entire career. Inspired by Turner's art, he expressed the deep sensitivity of the landscape in a sharp line that respected the geological realism.
On May 22, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 12.5M from a lower estimate of $ 8M an oil on canvas 75 x 152 cm painted in 1904. Thos panoramic view in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado is expressive and contrasted.
1904 Venice by Cross
2022 SOLD for $ 9.6M by Christie's
Henri-Edmond Delacroix coined his artist's name Cross for avoiding a confusion with Eugène Delacroix. A friend of Signac, he skillfully experienced the artistic possibilities of the pointillisme.
A keen anarchist beside Signac, he was also close to van Rysselberghe and Luce. Established from 1891 near Le Lavandou for health reason, he was neighboring Signac, and his rendering of colors and light deeply influenced the future Fauvists who attended his garden parties : Matisse, Derain, Marquet.
The anarchism of Cross was deeply utopian. He imagined Venice as the city of the supreme beauty for the centuries to come. He then decided to watch the Serenissima by himself and made his first stay from August 1903 to January 1904. Back in Le Lavandou, he painted about 15 views of Venice from his sketches.
A view of Rio San Trovaso under sunlight removes the human presence and traffic to express the silence, enhanced by a shimmering pointillism in pastel tones. A single stationed gondola is blurred far away and empty.
This oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm was sold for $ 9.6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 26 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection.
Allen had a keen interest in Venice views. His collection included a great demonstration of the succeeding styles performed by the artists from Canaletto to Le Sidaner through Turner, Manet, Moran, Sargent and Cross.
A keen anarchist beside Signac, he was also close to van Rysselberghe and Luce. Established from 1891 near Le Lavandou for health reason, he was neighboring Signac, and his rendering of colors and light deeply influenced the future Fauvists who attended his garden parties : Matisse, Derain, Marquet.
The anarchism of Cross was deeply utopian. He imagined Venice as the city of the supreme beauty for the centuries to come. He then decided to watch the Serenissima by himself and made his first stay from August 1903 to January 1904. Back in Le Lavandou, he painted about 15 views of Venice from his sketches.
A view of Rio San Trovaso under sunlight removes the human presence and traffic to express the silence, enhanced by a shimmering pointillism in pastel tones. A single stationed gondola is blurred far away and empty.
This oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm was sold for $ 9.6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 26 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection.
Allen had a keen interest in Venice views. His collection included a great demonstration of the succeeding styles performed by the artists from Canaletto to Le Sidaner through Turner, Manet, Moran, Sargent and Cross.
#AuctionRecord From the Paul G. Allen Collection, Henri-Edmond Cross’s ‘Rio San Trovaso, Venise’ set an auction record for the artist with a price realized of $9.55 million pic.twitter.com/KvF7oLpiCm
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 10, 2022
1904 Grande Baigneuse by Renoir
2007 SOLD for $ 8.9M by Christie's
Renoir was gradually disabled with arthritis from 1892. Reminding his intense pleasure of life, he concentrated on one of his lifelong favorite themes, the healthy and replete young woman in the nude, for which he was deeply influenced by Titian, Rubens and the French 18th century.
Painted in 1904, Grande baigneuse aux jambes croisées is typical of the joyful and happy style of the aging artist. The color of the flesh is warm. The woman complacently raises her abundant hair over the shoulder for better displaying her pretty little face and appealing gaze.
The pair of bulging breasts in a direct sun light focuses the attention of the viewer. The legs are crossed in modesty. This bather is seated on a cloth in a lush outdoor surrounding and wipes a foot with a toilet glove.
This oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm was sold for $ 8.9M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 40. A nearly identical painting 97 x 73 cm dated 1905 is kept at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Painted in 1904, Grande baigneuse aux jambes croisées is typical of the joyful and happy style of the aging artist. The color of the flesh is warm. The woman complacently raises her abundant hair over the shoulder for better displaying her pretty little face and appealing gaze.
The pair of bulging breasts in a direct sun light focuses the attention of the viewer. The legs are crossed in modesty. This bather is seated on a cloth in a lush outdoor surrounding and wipes a foot with a toilet glove.
This oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm was sold for $ 8.9M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 40. A nearly identical painting 97 x 73 cm dated 1905 is kept at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
