1906
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Bassin aux nymphéas Signac Rodin
See also : Bassin aux nymphéas Signac Rodin
CEZANNE
1
1904-1906 Intérieur de Forêt
2017 SOLD for € 6.9M by Touati-Duffaud
Paul Cézanne was not an easy character. Diabetes patient, reaching sixty, he is obsessed with death. In 1901, with remarkable lucidity, he decides to change his lifestyle. He is anxious that he will not have time to reach his targeted ideal of perfection.
The majestic landscape of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, near his hometown of Aix en Provence, is one of his favorite themes for two decades. His images in the quarries of the mountain are considered are precursors to Cubism.
He chose a place in the countryside where the mountain view is beautiful and moved his studio, built there in 1902. He did not live there but walked every day from Aix for his work. Until his death in 1906, art of all themes by Cézanne are made in this quiet cabin of the Chemin des Lauves where his creativity can no longer be disturbed.
Cézanne made nine oils and seventeen watercolors of Sainte-Victoire from the Lauves. He works outdoors at short distances from the studio but his perception of color shades offers in each of them a renewed harmony.
He has always enjoyed watercolor for its transparency and for the purity of its colors over the white paper. His pathetic approach is no longer commercial. In this final period he often works on the reverse of previously painted papers. The lightness of the watercolor allows such a practice without damage to the other side.
In 1904 his friend Emile Bernard came to admire the mastery of execution. Over a rough pencil drawing, the artist positioned successively the colors, meticulously waiting each one to dry before continuing the work, to prevent any unintentional overflow.
He observes the juxtapositions of colors on the Montagne Sainte-Victoire without abandoning other themes. The Baigneuses will remain until the end his demonstrator for still unexplored possibilities in figurative art. A quiet undergrowth is conducive to the sharing of meditation.
One of these watercolors of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, 43 x 54 cm, was sold by Christie's, for $ 4.5M on November 6, 2007, lot 33, for £ 3.55M on June 24, 2014, lot 20 and for HK $ 22M on May 28, 2024, lot 8. A double sided watercolor over pencil on paper 48 x 31 cm executed in 1902-1906 with a vertical Route tournante on one side and a panoramic Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves on the other side was sold for $ 6.8M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 32.
Cézanne is diabetic and his vision weakens. More than ever he manages to recreate an atmosphere. In the forest the depth is only brought by the curve of the path or by the diagonal of the wood edge.
The preliminary sketch in lead pencil is barely figurative. It is instead a configuration of geometric elements prepared for coloring. According to his traditional practice he painstakingly and gradually fills these surfaces while ensuring that the colors shall not mix. This method is a pointillism of Seurat or Signac in which the dots have been replaced by intersections of lines prepared in advance.
On December 20, 2017, Touati-Duffaud in cooperation with Beaussant Lefèvre sold as lot 43 an Intérieur de forêt for € 6.9M. Please watch the video shared by Drouot.
This watercolor 45 x 60 cm rich in warm colors of great brightness is one of the last realized by Cézanne on this theme, dated 1904-1906 by Rewald. It is glued on a cardboard but its inaccessible back side is probably blank.
The overall effect is figurative and this work demonstrates Cézanne's progress towards synthetic cubism. Is it Fontainebleau ? Is it Le Tholonet ? It does not matter. This corner of a forest does not imitate nature, it is built by the imagination of an artist for sharing his emotion.
The majestic landscape of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, near his hometown of Aix en Provence, is one of his favorite themes for two decades. His images in the quarries of the mountain are considered are precursors to Cubism.
He chose a place in the countryside where the mountain view is beautiful and moved his studio, built there in 1902. He did not live there but walked every day from Aix for his work. Until his death in 1906, art of all themes by Cézanne are made in this quiet cabin of the Chemin des Lauves where his creativity can no longer be disturbed.
Cézanne made nine oils and seventeen watercolors of Sainte-Victoire from the Lauves. He works outdoors at short distances from the studio but his perception of color shades offers in each of them a renewed harmony.
He has always enjoyed watercolor for its transparency and for the purity of its colors over the white paper. His pathetic approach is no longer commercial. In this final period he often works on the reverse of previously painted papers. The lightness of the watercolor allows such a practice without damage to the other side.
In 1904 his friend Emile Bernard came to admire the mastery of execution. Over a rough pencil drawing, the artist positioned successively the colors, meticulously waiting each one to dry before continuing the work, to prevent any unintentional overflow.
He observes the juxtapositions of colors on the Montagne Sainte-Victoire without abandoning other themes. The Baigneuses will remain until the end his demonstrator for still unexplored possibilities in figurative art. A quiet undergrowth is conducive to the sharing of meditation.
One of these watercolors of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, 43 x 54 cm, was sold by Christie's, for $ 4.5M on November 6, 2007, lot 33, for £ 3.55M on June 24, 2014, lot 20 and for HK $ 22M on May 28, 2024, lot 8. A double sided watercolor over pencil on paper 48 x 31 cm executed in 1902-1906 with a vertical Route tournante on one side and a panoramic Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves on the other side was sold for $ 6.8M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 32.
Cézanne is diabetic and his vision weakens. More than ever he manages to recreate an atmosphere. In the forest the depth is only brought by the curve of the path or by the diagonal of the wood edge.
The preliminary sketch in lead pencil is barely figurative. It is instead a configuration of geometric elements prepared for coloring. According to his traditional practice he painstakingly and gradually fills these surfaces while ensuring that the colors shall not mix. This method is a pointillism of Seurat or Signac in which the dots have been replaced by intersections of lines prepared in advance.
On December 20, 2017, Touati-Duffaud in cooperation with Beaussant Lefèvre sold as lot 43 an Intérieur de forêt for € 6.9M. Please watch the video shared by Drouot.
This watercolor 45 x 60 cm rich in warm colors of great brightness is one of the last realized by Cézanne on this theme, dated 1904-1906 by Rewald. It is glued on a cardboard but its inaccessible back side is probably blank.
The overall effect is figurative and this work demonstrates Cézanne's progress towards synthetic cubism. Is it Fontainebleau ? Is it Le Tholonet ? It does not matter. This corner of a forest does not imitate nature, it is built by the imagination of an artist for sharing his emotion.
“Intérieur de forêt”, une rare aquarelle de Paul #Cézanne trouvera un nouvel acquéreur mercredi. Pour l’une des dernières ventes de la saison, gageons un très beau résultat !
— Drouot (@Drouot) December 18, 2017
Rendez-vous à 14h30 chez Touati-Duffaud => https://t.co/cdawsCKLjk pic.twitter.com/XKxQ5qTnuf
2
masterpiece
1906 Les Grandes Baigneuses
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Paul Cézanne is ill and anxious : perhaps he will never succeed in attaining the objective of perfection which he has set for himself. Facing the Montagne Sainte-Victoire he tries to extract from the landscape the fundamental geometries accentuated by the varied colors of his palette.
In parallel with this tireless activity as a landscape artist, Cézanne reworks his traditional theme of the outdoor Baigneuses in oils on canvases that now reach large formats. Refusing that his colors intermingle, he disregards the realistic figuration and anticipates cubism. At his death in October 1906 three paintings are unfinished. One of them 210 x 250 cm is preserved at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The bathers are divided into groups in a surrounding of trees. The center opens onto the landscape. Bodies, leaves and mountain are drawn in undifferentiated lines, leaving to the harmony of colors all the emotional power in this artwork. Having started from Impressionism and now reaching Expressionism, Cézanne is one of the deepest innovators in the history of art.
In parallel with this tireless activity as a landscape artist, Cézanne reworks his traditional theme of the outdoor Baigneuses in oils on canvases that now reach large formats. Refusing that his colors intermingle, he disregards the realistic figuration and anticipates cubism. At his death in October 1906 three paintings are unfinished. One of them 210 x 250 cm is preserved at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The bathers are divided into groups in a surrounding of trees. The center opens onto the landscape. Bodies, leaves and mountain are drawn in undifferentiated lines, leaving to the harmony of colors all the emotional power in this artwork. Having started from Impressionism and now reaching Expressionism, Cézanne is one of the deepest innovators in the history of art.
1906 Nymphéas by MONET
1
W1684
2014 SOLD for £ 32M by Sotheby's
Claude Monet is the painter of the elusive. His studies of light variations have transformed the Western art. He should not be regarded as a leader, but rather as a great creator.
The Durand-Ruel gallery was a great instigator of talent. In 1905, Monet is 65 years old, already. He departed from the excitement of the life in Paris to enjoy his garden at Giverny. An exhibition project for Durand-Ruel made his passion. The exhibition took place in 1909, and Monet found there the theme that monopolized his art until the end of his life: the water lilies in his garden.
This series of "Nymphéas" mark the total success of an impossible challenge: to show in painting the transparency of water. The flowers are seen obliquely, with perspective, lighting and reflections being different each time. They are widely spaced, and between them is coming the incredible illusion: the observer sees the surface of the water. They are not abstract, far away, but the lack of horizon has certainly influenced the non-figurative art.
An oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on May 8, 2000, lot 21, and for £ 32M by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014, lot 17. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Made in 1906, it was one of the highlights of the exhibition of 1909. The light is established by very subtle pastel shades, and the reflections are superb.
The Durand-Ruel gallery was a great instigator of talent. In 1905, Monet is 65 years old, already. He departed from the excitement of the life in Paris to enjoy his garden at Giverny. An exhibition project for Durand-Ruel made his passion. The exhibition took place in 1909, and Monet found there the theme that monopolized his art until the end of his life: the water lilies in his garden.
This series of "Nymphéas" mark the total success of an impossible challenge: to show in painting the transparency of water. The flowers are seen obliquely, with perspective, lighting and reflections being different each time. They are widely spaced, and between them is coming the incredible illusion: the observer sees the surface of the water. They are not abstract, far away, but the lack of horizon has certainly influenced the non-figurative art.
An oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on May 8, 2000, lot 21, and for £ 32M by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014, lot 17. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Made in 1906, it was one of the highlights of the exhibition of 1909. The light is established by very subtle pastel shades, and the reflections are superb.
2
W1686
1999 SOLD for $ 22.6M by Christie's
From the same series of Nymphéas by Monet, an oil on canvas 90 x 93 cm was sold for $ 22.6M by Christie's on November 8, 1999, lot 127. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
W1685
2002 SOLD for £ 13.5M by Sotheby's
From the same series of Nymphéas by Monet, an oil on canvas 81 x 93 cm was sold for £ 13.5M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2002, lot 6. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1906 Le Penseur by Rodin
2013 SOLD for $ 15.3M by Sotheby's
The central figure of the Porte de l'Enfer commissioned to Rodin in 1880, Le Penseur is the representation of introspection embedded in a colossal male human body at rest in the nude.
The 71 cm high prototype is made in clay in 1882. The highly popular monumental version 1.85 m high is revealed in 1904. Small versions are also prepared.
The bronzes from the original size are identified as 'taille de la Porte' or 'Moyen modèle'. They were cast from 1884 to 1969 by the foundries Griffoul, François Rudier, Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier. The Alexis Rudier foundry created about 30 examples of Le Penseur in that size, on request from customers or dealers.
Bronzes are edited from the figures of the Porte de l'Enfer, by François Rudier and, from 1902, by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier then headed by Eugène Rudier, a son of the late creator of this company.
The most prestigious Rodin bronzes are those made under the direct supervision of the artist by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier in the original size planned for the gates, identified as 'moyen modèle'.
A Penseur has all these great features. This cast was made in 1906 as a single copy on commission by the American Ralph Pulitzer, son of the media owner. It was sold for $ 15.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2013. Please watch the video shared by the auction house introducing three Rodin bronzes of that sale.
The 71 cm high prototype is made in clay in 1882. The highly popular monumental version 1.85 m high is revealed in 1904. Small versions are also prepared.
The bronzes from the original size are identified as 'taille de la Porte' or 'Moyen modèle'. They were cast from 1884 to 1969 by the foundries Griffoul, François Rudier, Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier. The Alexis Rudier foundry created about 30 examples of Le Penseur in that size, on request from customers or dealers.
Bronzes are edited from the figures of the Porte de l'Enfer, by François Rudier and, from 1902, by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier then headed by Eugène Rudier, a son of the late creator of this company.
The most prestigious Rodin bronzes are those made under the direct supervision of the artist by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier in the original size planned for the gates, identified as 'moyen modèle'.
A Penseur has all these great features. This cast was made in 1906 as a single copy on commission by the American Ralph Pulitzer, son of the media owner. It was sold for $ 15.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2013. Please watch the video shared by the auction house introducing three Rodin bronzes of that sale.
1906 Le Rayon Vert by Signac
2024 SOLD for £ 7.7M by Sotheby's
In art, Paul Signac was an influencer. He had supported van Gogh in his outdoor painting sessions along the Seine river. He had decided Seurat to use bright colors in his newly developed pointilliste techniques and was a mentor for van Rysselberghe.
Matisse visited him in Saint-Tropez in 1904. At that time Signac's pointillisme had shifted from tiny to broad mosaic-like brushstrokes with a bright priming left visible around the colors. Matisse then painted in the pure palette of the rainbow his breakthrough Luxe, calme et volupté which was the cornerstone of the development of Fauvisme in the 1905 Salon d'Automne.
Signac continued to interpret the real colors of nature in his own style, in parallel to Monet. He now included the meteorological effects such as a rainbow in Venice in 1905, three years before Monet's visit in that city.
A painting executed by Signac in 1906 manages to interpret in his beloved bay of Saint-Tropez the ephemeral green ray effect which appears in specific conditions when the sun is just below the horizon at sunrise or sunset. The theme had been the subject of a pseudo-scientific novel by Jules Verne in 1882.
Le Rayon vert, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm, was sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 5M by Sotheby's on March 6, 2024, lot 25.
Matisse visited him in Saint-Tropez in 1904. At that time Signac's pointillisme had shifted from tiny to broad mosaic-like brushstrokes with a bright priming left visible around the colors. Matisse then painted in the pure palette of the rainbow his breakthrough Luxe, calme et volupté which was the cornerstone of the development of Fauvisme in the 1905 Salon d'Automne.
Signac continued to interpret the real colors of nature in his own style, in parallel to Monet. He now included the meteorological effects such as a rainbow in Venice in 1905, three years before Monet's visit in that city.
A painting executed by Signac in 1906 manages to interpret in his beloved bay of Saint-Tropez the ephemeral green ray effect which appears in specific conditions when the sun is just below the horizon at sunrise or sunset. The theme had been the subject of a pseudo-scientific novel by Jules Verne in 1882.
Le Rayon vert, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm, was sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 5M by Sotheby's on March 6, 2024, lot 25.
#AuctionUpdate Dated 1906, the mesmerizing 'Saint-Tropez. Le rayon vert' by master of Pointillism Paul Signac reaches £7.75 million. pic.twitter.com/RersnXTkU5
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 6, 2024
1906 VLAMINCK
1
Paysage au Bois Mort
2018 SOLD for $ 16.7M by Sotheby's
In 1906 the Fauvistes were looking for an extreme chromatism made of bold saturated colors through speedy brush strokes.
While Derain was missioned by Vollard to London and Braque and Friesz were making their hand in the French Riviera, Maurice de Vlaminck explored the banks of the Seine in the vicinity of his home town in Chatou.
Vlaminck's style is more than ever inspired by the van Gogh of Saint-Rémy and Arles, for the mingling of colors but also for the tiny figures of countryside workers bent in their occupation.
Paysage au Bois Mort, better titled Ramasseur de Bois Mort, oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm painted in 1906, was sold for $ 16.7M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 12, 2018, lot 7.
Painted in the same year with the Pont de Chatou in the background, Pêcheur ) Chatou, oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 7.6M on November 12, 2018, lot 10 in the same sale as the example narrated above, and for $ 3.7M on May 15, 2024, lot 37.
While Derain was missioned by Vollard to London and Braque and Friesz were making their hand in the French Riviera, Maurice de Vlaminck explored the banks of the Seine in the vicinity of his home town in Chatou.
Vlaminck's style is more than ever inspired by the van Gogh of Saint-Rémy and Arles, for the mingling of colors but also for the tiny figures of countryside workers bent in their occupation.
Paysage au Bois Mort, better titled Ramasseur de Bois Mort, oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm painted in 1906, was sold for $ 16.7M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 12, 2018, lot 7.
Painted in the same year with the Pont de Chatou in the background, Pêcheur ) Chatou, oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 7.6M on November 12, 2018, lot 10 in the same sale as the example narrated above, and for $ 3.7M on May 15, 2024, lot 37.
2
La Seine à Chatou
2002 SOLD for £ 7.2M by Christie's
Painted in 1906 by Vlaminck, la Seine à Chatou is a violent burst of red, blue and yellow.
This oil on canvas 74 x 92 cm was sold for £ 7.2M from a lower estimate of £ 3M by Christie's on February 4, 2002, lot 29.
This oil on canvas 74 x 92 cm was sold for £ 7.2M from a lower estimate of £ 3M by Christie's on February 4, 2002, lot 29.
3
Le Verger
2016 SOLD for $ 7.6M by Sotheby's
Le Verger, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted by Vlaminck in 1906, was sold for $ 7.6M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2016, lot 26.
1906-1907 Londres by Derain
2015 SOLD for £ 7M by Sotheby's
Monet remains a realistic painter but the post-impressionnisme already offers another path. Around Matisse, the Fauves blow up the colors. Art critics are surprised but the public appreciates this pictorial revolution that takes painting forever away from the influence of photography.
André Derain wants his colors to explode. Under the shining sun of Collioure with Matisse during the summer of 1905, he achieves such a purpose while maintaining the realism. The paintings of the two friends launch the Fauvisme at the Salon d'Automne of the same year.
Vollard, always eager to exploit the avant-gardes, then makes a surprising judgment error, believing that Derain would be able to provide a counterbalance to the huge popular success of the exhibition of the views of London by Monet at Durand-Ruel in 1904.
In 1906 and 1907 Derain spends several months in London in three stays interspersed with returns to Paris.
The 26 year-old artist is alone to execute this new mission, without the emulation from Matisse. He had been excited by the exhibition at Durand-Ruel and must find a style opposite to Monet. To transpose onto London the success of the colors of Collioure, he deliberately ignores the fog.
His cloisonné figuration is now closer to Gauguin. He is gradually abandoning pointillism, rightly : the experience of Signac and Van Rysselberghe demonstrated that this difficult technique did only reach its best effects for extreme lights.
The thirty views of London painted by Derain are good examples of the expression of exacerbated colors and are part of this continuous progress of artistic movements that leads to Blaue Reiter and abstraction. They do not stand out anyway from contemporary experiences by other Fauvistes including Vlaminck, Braque and Van Dongen.
Londres : le Quai Victoria (Victoria Embankment), oil on canvas 66 x 99 cm, was sold for £ 7M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2015, lot 30.
Les Voiles Rouges, oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm, displays a few sail boats against the light on a river, one of them in the foreground. It does not include any architectural detail but the shape of the sails meets the typical Thames barges. Their blazing red interspersed with blue responds with the usual Fauviste exaggeration to the reddish brown color of the models.
The pointilliste processing of water is reminiscent of the influence of the style of Signac that Derain had discussed with Matisse at the beginning of their cooperation in Collioure and anticipates the canals in Venice by Monet. The geometric segmentation of the sky between clouds, mist, sun and a patch of blue is a thoroughly modern vision.
Les Voiles Rouges was sold for $ 6.9M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 59A.
Vollard recovered the paintings of London from Derain but did not display them. Derain indeed could not compete with Monet. Monet is no more a mere impressionist. He expresses the deep meaning of nature by extreme lights under heavy skies.
Derain's stay in London had an unforeseen influence on modern art. Inspired by the ethnographic collections of the British Museum, he understands that tribal art will allow the paintings to part away from the photographic realism, thus unintentionally opening the way to Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon.
André Derain wants his colors to explode. Under the shining sun of Collioure with Matisse during the summer of 1905, he achieves such a purpose while maintaining the realism. The paintings of the two friends launch the Fauvisme at the Salon d'Automne of the same year.
Vollard, always eager to exploit the avant-gardes, then makes a surprising judgment error, believing that Derain would be able to provide a counterbalance to the huge popular success of the exhibition of the views of London by Monet at Durand-Ruel in 1904.
In 1906 and 1907 Derain spends several months in London in three stays interspersed with returns to Paris.
The 26 year-old artist is alone to execute this new mission, without the emulation from Matisse. He had been excited by the exhibition at Durand-Ruel and must find a style opposite to Monet. To transpose onto London the success of the colors of Collioure, he deliberately ignores the fog.
His cloisonné figuration is now closer to Gauguin. He is gradually abandoning pointillism, rightly : the experience of Signac and Van Rysselberghe demonstrated that this difficult technique did only reach its best effects for extreme lights.
The thirty views of London painted by Derain are good examples of the expression of exacerbated colors and are part of this continuous progress of artistic movements that leads to Blaue Reiter and abstraction. They do not stand out anyway from contemporary experiences by other Fauvistes including Vlaminck, Braque and Van Dongen.
Londres : le Quai Victoria (Victoria Embankment), oil on canvas 66 x 99 cm, was sold for £ 7M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2015, lot 30.
Les Voiles Rouges, oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm, displays a few sail boats against the light on a river, one of them in the foreground. It does not include any architectural detail but the shape of the sails meets the typical Thames barges. Their blazing red interspersed with blue responds with the usual Fauviste exaggeration to the reddish brown color of the models.
The pointilliste processing of water is reminiscent of the influence of the style of Signac that Derain had discussed with Matisse at the beginning of their cooperation in Collioure and anticipates the canals in Venice by Monet. The geometric segmentation of the sky between clouds, mist, sun and a patch of blue is a thoroughly modern vision.
Les Voiles Rouges was sold for $ 6.9M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 59A.
Vollard recovered the paintings of London from Derain but did not display them. Derain indeed could not compete with Monet. Monet is no more a mere impressionist. He expresses the deep meaning of nature by extreme lights under heavy skies.
Derain's stay in London had an unforeseen influence on modern art. Inspired by the ethnographic collections of the British Museum, he understands that tribal art will allow the paintings to part away from the photographic realism, thus unintentionally opening the way to Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon.
