1911
See also : Sculpture Bust and mask The Woman Flowers Bouquet Italy Modigliani Matisse Kandinsky Horse Cats
1911-1912 Woman and Caryatid
2014 SOLD for $ 71M including premium
Amedeo Modigliani is a young Italian immigrant who is learning the tendencies of modern art in Paris at the Bateau-Lavoir. From his meeting with Brancusi he discovers the sculpture in direct carving, perfectly suited to his skills : Modi operates quickly and without rework.
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will be his temple of art.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
On June 14, 2010, a caryatid bust 64 cm high including the cubic base was sold for € 43M including premium by Christie's.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells a bust, 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. The press release of October 3 is announcing an estimate in excess of $ 45M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will be his temple of art.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
On June 14, 2010, a caryatid bust 64 cm high including the cubic base was sold for € 43M including premium by Christie's.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells a bust, 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. The press release of October 3 is announcing an estimate in excess of $ 45M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1911 Modigliani sculpted the Timeless Woman
2010 SOLD 43 M€ including premium
Amedeo Modigliani made a dazzling pass in the history of sculpture.
His female heads are a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Made in a very limited quantity, they were dispersed. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, is on sale at Christie's in Paris on June 14. It is obvious that this lot, estimated € 4 million, is exceptional. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914, he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as clever as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of his time.
POST SALE COMMENT
The information provided by Christie's did not leave any possibility for doubt: this sculpture is a masterpiece. Result: € 43 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Christie's :
His female heads are a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Made in a very limited quantity, they were dispersed. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, is on sale at Christie's in Paris on June 14. It is obvious that this lot, estimated € 4 million, is exceptional. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914, he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as clever as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of his time.
POST SALE COMMENT
The information provided by Christie's did not leave any possibility for doubt: this sculpture is a masterpiece. Result: € 43 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Christie's :
1911 Les Coucous, tapis bleu et rose by Matisse
2009 SOLD for € 36M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1911 The Breath of Horses
2017 SOLD for $ 12.7M including premium
In 1909 Wassily Kandinsky described his inspiration by three categories : Impression, Improvisation, Komposition. This excessively theoretical approach should not obscure the fact that his great jump forward was to highlight the expression and confrontation of the colors while minimizing the line.
In January 1911 Kandinsky was enthralled by the music of Schönberg heard in a concert. He will now endeavor to express through his painting a universal and pantheistic feeling with a rhythm which is equivalent to a breath. For that purpose he no longer needs a narrative excuse nor a perspective and he also eliminates the graphic consistency between lines and colors.
On November 13 in New York, Christie's sells an example from this new experimental phase. Titled Improvisation mit Pferden (Studie für Improvisation 20), this oil on canvas 71 x 99 cm painted in 1911 is estimated $ 9M, lot 9 A.
The lyrical breath is assured by the primordial force of the diagonal rising from lower left to upper right. The figures are more or less identifiable : horses, a blue and yellow couple, a tower, a row of trees. The powerful rising flow is disturbed by a thick semi-circular black line with zigzag.
The final version 95 x 108 cm titled Improvisation 20 (Zwei Pferde) retained the diagonal and the zigzag, with solid colors. Appearing as a mere detail in comparison with its Studie, it does not offer the same amplitude but is indisputably one of the ultimate stages before pure abstraction.
In January 1911 Kandinsky was enthralled by the music of Schönberg heard in a concert. He will now endeavor to express through his painting a universal and pantheistic feeling with a rhythm which is equivalent to a breath. For that purpose he no longer needs a narrative excuse nor a perspective and he also eliminates the graphic consistency between lines and colors.
On November 13 in New York, Christie's sells an example from this new experimental phase. Titled Improvisation mit Pferden (Studie für Improvisation 20), this oil on canvas 71 x 99 cm painted in 1911 is estimated $ 9M, lot 9 A.
The lyrical breath is assured by the primordial force of the diagonal rising from lower left to upper right. The figures are more or less identifiable : horses, a blue and yellow couple, a tower, a row of trees. The powerful rising flow is disturbed by a thick semi-circular black line with zigzag.
The final version 95 x 108 cm titled Improvisation 20 (Zwei Pferde) retained the diagonal and the zigzag, with solid colors. Appearing as a mere detail in comparison with its Studie, it does not offer the same amplitude but is indisputably one of the ultimate stages before pure abstraction.
Christie's prépare la vente d'une #collection européenne fin 2017 https://t.co/BpMV1mGnNo @artdaily #AvantGarde #ArtModerne #Bijoux #Design pic.twitter.com/apHITK96W2
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) July 26, 2017
1911 Landscape by Malevich
2018 SOLD for £ 7.9M including premium
Relations are excellent between France and Russia, and the Parisian avant-garde artists diffuse up to Moscow. From 1908 exhibitions are organized in that city to confront the young artists of both countries. Also in 1908 Shchukin opened his residence to the public.
This momentum makes Natalia Goncharova and her companion Mikhail Larionov want to create a modern art more directly rooted in Russian traditions. The peasant scenes are one of their themes. It has been said that their group was also inspired by the figures of the icons. Around Repin the official artists spit their contempt.
Based in Moscow since 1904 Kazimir Malevich brings his contribution. In 1911 his Peasant Funeral is comparable to Un Enterrement à Ornans by Courbet but with a choice of colors in the style of Jawlensky. This work is lost. A 46 x 46 cm preparatory gouache showing the head of a bearded peasant was sold for £ 2.1M including premium by Sotheby's on June 2, 2014 over a lower estimate of £ 600K.
On June 20 in London, Christie's sells a gouache on paper laid on board realized in the same year, lot 17 B estimated £ 7M.
This view of an imaginary village is almost unique in Malevich's art. The only other identified example is lost. With its large size 106 x 106 cm it appears as an experimental work in search of a synthesis of styles. The square format and the disappearance of the horizon are bold for this theme and perhaps inspired from Klimt, the variety of colors evokes Kandinsky and the intentionally naive drawing of the houses is in the post-cubist style of Lhote and Gleizes.
Malevich considered this artwork as important in his career. He often exhibited it until his catastrophic attempt of passing to the West in 1927 in which he lost control of his best works. It was restituted to his family in 2012 after hanging for 48 years at the Kunstmuseum Basel.
This momentum makes Natalia Goncharova and her companion Mikhail Larionov want to create a modern art more directly rooted in Russian traditions. The peasant scenes are one of their themes. It has been said that their group was also inspired by the figures of the icons. Around Repin the official artists spit their contempt.
Based in Moscow since 1904 Kazimir Malevich brings his contribution. In 1911 his Peasant Funeral is comparable to Un Enterrement à Ornans by Courbet but with a choice of colors in the style of Jawlensky. This work is lost. A 46 x 46 cm preparatory gouache showing the head of a bearded peasant was sold for £ 2.1M including premium by Sotheby's on June 2, 2014 over a lower estimate of £ 600K.
On June 20 in London, Christie's sells a gouache on paper laid on board realized in the same year, lot 17 B estimated £ 7M.
This view of an imaginary village is almost unique in Malevich's art. The only other identified example is lost. With its large size 106 x 106 cm it appears as an experimental work in search of a synthesis of styles. The square format and the disappearance of the horizon are bold for this theme and perhaps inspired from Klimt, the variety of colors evokes Kandinsky and the intentionally naive drawing of the houses is in the post-cubist style of Lhote and Gleizes.
Malevich considered this artwork as important in his career. He often exhibited it until his catastrophic attempt of passing to the West in 1927 in which he lost control of his best works. It was restituted to his family in 2012 after hanging for 48 years at the Kunstmuseum Basel.
Christie’s Scores a Second Malevich for June https://t.co/dYUgxvIGFX pic.twitter.com/Cyj4Lb8o9v
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) April 13, 2018
1911 The Bridge between Dresden and Berlin
2012 SOLD 7.3 M£ including premium
One century ago, throughout Europe, groups of artists and intellectuals question the origin of mankind and the role of art. In Dresden, Die Brücke, led by Kirchner, has the ambition to be a bridge between past and present.
The present is the urban landscape that reflects modern life. The past, or the origin, is characterized by obsessive nudes with a primitivist sexuality. The group executes some masterpieces of wood engraving.
A gentle oil on canvas by Kirchner, 120 x 151 cm, has for theme the Albertplatz of Dresden. The characters are quiet and anonymous, like the walkers of Utrillo or Dufy. However, its date, 1911, is important, and brings an estimate of £ 5M. It is for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 8. Here is the link to the catalog.
It is indeed one of the last provincial cityscapes made by Kirchner before leaving for Berlin, a move that had so far-reaching consequences on his life and was so fruitful for the history of art. His anguished discovery of the communication difficulties in the anonymity of the big city generated some masterpieces of expressionist art.
In 1913, the group exploded. Persecuted in 1937 by the Nazis who considered him as a typical example of degenerate artist, Kirchner could not protect his own artwork and committed suicide the following year.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lovely painting that could be described as pre-expressionist was sold for £ 7.3 million including premium.
The present is the urban landscape that reflects modern life. The past, or the origin, is characterized by obsessive nudes with a primitivist sexuality. The group executes some masterpieces of wood engraving.
A gentle oil on canvas by Kirchner, 120 x 151 cm, has for theme the Albertplatz of Dresden. The characters are quiet and anonymous, like the walkers of Utrillo or Dufy. However, its date, 1911, is important, and brings an estimate of £ 5M. It is for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 8. Here is the link to the catalog.
It is indeed one of the last provincial cityscapes made by Kirchner before leaving for Berlin, a move that had so far-reaching consequences on his life and was so fruitful for the history of art. His anguished discovery of the communication difficulties in the anonymity of the big city generated some masterpieces of expressionist art.
In 1913, the group exploded. Persecuted in 1937 by the Nazis who considered him as a typical example of degenerate artist, Kirchner could not protect his own artwork and committed suicide the following year.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lovely painting that could be described as pre-expressionist was sold for £ 7.3 million including premium.
1911 Childish Pantheism by Franz Marc
2014 SOLD 6.2 M£ including premium
Franz Marc himself stated that his inspiration was mystical. He wanted a happy pantheism where passions and strengths are expressed by the animal and not by man.
Fauvism interests him : the color is more expressive when it is not realistic. In September 1910, Marc is dazzled by the art of Kandinsky in an exhibition in Munich. The image can express the message as well or better than words do.
Marc then establishes a full code of colors. Blue and yellow are the good, male and female respectively. The red must be fought. Combinations of these primary colors complicate the message and its emotion.
On June 24 in London, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 70 x 50 cm painted before March 1911, in the early days of this new creative impetus. It is estimated £ 5M.
The orange cat is sleeping behind a blue tree. The tree is mostly a trunk but its sinuous shape is pleasant. The feline predator could have been red but with the protection by the tree it became orange and charming like in a child's drawing. The painting is titled Kinderbild.
The cooperation between Kandinsky and Marc during the Blaue Reiter secession is successful. The language of colors by Marc accompanies the language of forms by Kandinsky which opens the glorious path of abstract art.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good price, £ 6.2 million including premium, for this rare Kinderbild altogether simple in composition and complex in meaning.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's:
Fauvism interests him : the color is more expressive when it is not realistic. In September 1910, Marc is dazzled by the art of Kandinsky in an exhibition in Munich. The image can express the message as well or better than words do.
Marc then establishes a full code of colors. Blue and yellow are the good, male and female respectively. The red must be fought. Combinations of these primary colors complicate the message and its emotion.
On June 24 in London, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 70 x 50 cm painted before March 1911, in the early days of this new creative impetus. It is estimated £ 5M.
The orange cat is sleeping behind a blue tree. The tree is mostly a trunk but its sinuous shape is pleasant. The feline predator could have been red but with the protection by the tree it became orange and charming like in a child's drawing. The painting is titled Kinderbild.
The cooperation between Kandinsky and Marc during the Blaue Reiter secession is successful. The language of colors by Marc accompanies the language of forms by Kandinsky which opens the glorious path of abstract art.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good price, £ 6.2 million including premium, for this rare Kinderbild altogether simple in composition and complex in meaning.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's:
1911 Kandinsky between Mountain and Black Arch
2014 SOLD 5.6 M£ including premium
I was convinced of the importance of Kandinsky's painting from the Krugier collection, regarded as a significant step between figurative and abstract, with flamboyant colors. It had not been sold by Christie's on November 4, 2013. I had believed that it deserved its estimate of $ 20M.
This oil on canvas 72 x 99 cm is now estimated £ 3M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 23, lot 30.
Here is my discussion of last year :
In Murnau in 1909, Kandinsky seeks to achieve the ultimate limits of artistic expression. He later listens to Schönberg. Music is inherently non-figurative, and yet it evokes emotion. Shape and color can achieve a similar effect on canvas or panel. The autumn landscape (Herbstlandschaft) became a favorite theme of the artist.
On 4 February 2008, Christie's sold £ 2.9 million including premium an interesting oil on board, 33 x 42 cm, painted in 1910. Figurative like a Van Gogh, this landscape with tree also reminds that Kandinsky was close to Fauvism before Murnau.
Painted in 1911 and coming from the Krugier collection, another Herbstlandschaft is a masterpiece of the artist.
The mountain is a magnificent triangle inviting to elevation. Autumn is the pretext for a musicalist harmony involving all colors. Human influence is limited to a few houses barely outlined in the graphic style of Murnau.
Kandinsky's evolution toward abstraction appears here as both logical and inevitable. The crest is enhanced by a wide line that anticipates and even decodes in advance Picture with a Black Arch (Mit dem schwarzen Bogen), his seminal abstract painting made in the following year.
POST SALE COMMENT
This landscape is an important artwork for understanding the evolution of the art of Kandinsky. It was sold for £ 5.6 million including premium.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's in 2013 :
This oil on canvas 72 x 99 cm is now estimated £ 3M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 23, lot 30.
Here is my discussion of last year :
In Murnau in 1909, Kandinsky seeks to achieve the ultimate limits of artistic expression. He later listens to Schönberg. Music is inherently non-figurative, and yet it evokes emotion. Shape and color can achieve a similar effect on canvas or panel. The autumn landscape (Herbstlandschaft) became a favorite theme of the artist.
On 4 February 2008, Christie's sold £ 2.9 million including premium an interesting oil on board, 33 x 42 cm, painted in 1910. Figurative like a Van Gogh, this landscape with tree also reminds that Kandinsky was close to Fauvism before Murnau.
Painted in 1911 and coming from the Krugier collection, another Herbstlandschaft is a masterpiece of the artist.
The mountain is a magnificent triangle inviting to elevation. Autumn is the pretext for a musicalist harmony involving all colors. Human influence is limited to a few houses barely outlined in the graphic style of Murnau.
Kandinsky's evolution toward abstraction appears here as both logical and inevitable. The crest is enhanced by a wide line that anticipates and even decodes in advance Picture with a Black Arch (Mit dem schwarzen Bogen), his seminal abstract painting made in the following year.
POST SALE COMMENT
This landscape is an important artwork for understanding the evolution of the art of Kandinsky. It was sold for £ 5.6 million including premium.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's in 2013 :
1911 A Funeral Procession by Schiele
2010 SOLD 4.4 M€ including premium
Had he not died at age 28 (of Spanish flu), Schiele could have been one of the most outstanding artists of the twentieth century.
His personal story ended badly, but it also had a bad start. He was fifteen years old when his father died of syphilis. Death and sex will be the leitmotif of this gifted young man.
In Vienna, his skill was acknowledged by Klimt, and he became aware of the trends in modern art and more specifically of Munch.
He is 21 years old in 1911 when he paints this oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, entitled Prozession, for sale on November 9 by Im Kinsky in Vienna and to be considered as a masterpiece of the macabre art. A procession moves toward the observer, with no human form but three death masks and two bare feet.
With his dark thoughts, Schiele follows Ensor without the sharpness of his humor. The figures of his dense procession are psychologically isolated, same as those of Kirchner in the crowded streets of Berlin. Is it a coincidence? In the same year, 1911, the master of Expressionism discovers Berlin.
This unusual and powerful work is estimated € 3.5M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, € 4.4 million including premium, is excellent, especially when considering that Schiele was very young when he painted this Prozession.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by ImKinsky :
His personal story ended badly, but it also had a bad start. He was fifteen years old when his father died of syphilis. Death and sex will be the leitmotif of this gifted young man.
In Vienna, his skill was acknowledged by Klimt, and he became aware of the trends in modern art and more specifically of Munch.
He is 21 years old in 1911 when he paints this oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, entitled Prozession, for sale on November 9 by Im Kinsky in Vienna and to be considered as a masterpiece of the macabre art. A procession moves toward the observer, with no human form but three death masks and two bare feet.
With his dark thoughts, Schiele follows Ensor without the sharpness of his humor. The figures of his dense procession are psychologically isolated, same as those of Kirchner in the crowded streets of Berlin. Is it a coincidence? In the same year, 1911, the master of Expressionism discovers Berlin.
This unusual and powerful work is estimated € 3.5M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, € 4.4 million including premium, is excellent, especially when considering that Schiele was very young when he painted this Prozession.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by ImKinsky :
1911 Automobile Minimalism by Mercer
2014 SOLD 2.53 M$ including premium
The Type 35R created in 1911 by Mercer Automobile Company is an innovative and effective model. Mercer took its name in 1909 from a county in New Jersey, thereby masking that it was led by the Roebling family. Forty years earlier, John Roebling had been the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the most outstanding engineering projects of his time.
Designed for competition, the 35R is equipped with a 4.8 liter engine in four cylinders arranged in T head. Less powerful than its competitors, this model won many races until 1914 thanks to its bold design. Relatively light, it could reach 140 km/h.
The 35R Raceabout has a low center of gravity through the position of the engine and of the seat, offering a sporty position of the driver with a very long steering column.
The Raceabout is stripped of any equipment that is not necessary for speed and endurance. Half a century later, with completely different technologies, Ferrari will have a similar approach through his Competizione variants.
For travel, a close variant named Runabout was equipped with the features missing to the Raceabout such as windshield, top and doors.
On August 16 in Monterey, RM Auctions sells a very early Mercer Type 35R, lot 235 estimated $ 2.5 M. Originally delivered in the Runabout configuration, it has no ancient racing history. It has been upgraded into a Raceabout in 1945-1946, twenty years after the end of the Mercer brand.
POST SALE COMMENT
This centenarian in perfect working condition was sold for $ 2.3 million before fees, 2,53M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by RM Auctions :
Designed for competition, the 35R is equipped with a 4.8 liter engine in four cylinders arranged in T head. Less powerful than its competitors, this model won many races until 1914 thanks to its bold design. Relatively light, it could reach 140 km/h.
The 35R Raceabout has a low center of gravity through the position of the engine and of the seat, offering a sporty position of the driver with a very long steering column.
The Raceabout is stripped of any equipment that is not necessary for speed and endurance. Half a century later, with completely different technologies, Ferrari will have a similar approach through his Competizione variants.
For travel, a close variant named Runabout was equipped with the features missing to the Raceabout such as windshield, top and doors.
On August 16 in Monterey, RM Auctions sells a very early Mercer Type 35R, lot 235 estimated $ 2.5 M. Originally delivered in the Runabout configuration, it has no ancient racing history. It has been upgraded into a Raceabout in 1945-1946, twenty years after the end of the Mercer brand.
POST SALE COMMENT
This centenarian in perfect working condition was sold for $ 2.3 million before fees, 2,53M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by RM Auctions :
1911 Augusta van Dongen in Poiret Outfit
2018 SOLD for € 1.8M including premium
La Lecture is a 1911 portrait of Augusta van Dongen by her husband. It looks atypical in van Dongen's art because it had clearly been executed for private use. It had been reworked by the artist a few years later for adding some details and Augusta kept it when they divorced in 1921.
This large size oil on canvas 145 x 145 cm passed at Drouot on June 25, 2018. It had been introduced in a video shared by Drouot Presse. It is now estimated € 1.5M for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on October 18, lot 18.
Augusta is wearing an outfit by Poiret which is obviously the theme of this intimate artwork. Before the Drouot sale, I narrated as follows the relationship between Kees van Dongen and Paul Poiret.
By removing the corset in 1906, Poiret forever modifies the look of the Parisian woman. This conception is transmitted in 1908 in a pretty booklet made up of ten color engravings by Paul Iribe. Poiret is inspired by the artistic avant-gardes. He thus appears as a leader of modernism just when the Ballets Russes put in fashion a luxurious imaginary exoticism.
Compared to other paintings made by van Dongen around that date, La Lecture stands out for its themes and style. The fine line evokes the illustrations from Iribe's catalog. The atmosphere mixes Fauvism and exoticism. The striped areas are in Matisse's taste and a wall painting could have been a marine in Collioure. Orientalism is brought by the profile of the dark haired woman and by the hand of Fatima that she wears as a pendant.
The intention to please Poiret is obvious. The title of the book in the hands of Augusta is Rabelais. This reference may be an unidentified connivance with Poiret. The curled cat in the foreground makes a friendly wink.
The influence of fashion is helping to shift Van Dongen from anarchism and cabarets to the elegant society. 'Deauville' is published in 1931 with five engravings by Van Dongen and a text by Poiret.
This large size oil on canvas 145 x 145 cm passed at Drouot on June 25, 2018. It had been introduced in a video shared by Drouot Presse. It is now estimated € 1.5M for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on October 18, lot 18.
Augusta is wearing an outfit by Poiret which is obviously the theme of this intimate artwork. Before the Drouot sale, I narrated as follows the relationship between Kees van Dongen and Paul Poiret.
By removing the corset in 1906, Poiret forever modifies the look of the Parisian woman. This conception is transmitted in 1908 in a pretty booklet made up of ten color engravings by Paul Iribe. Poiret is inspired by the artistic avant-gardes. He thus appears as a leader of modernism just when the Ballets Russes put in fashion a luxurious imaginary exoticism.
Compared to other paintings made by van Dongen around that date, La Lecture stands out for its themes and style. The fine line evokes the illustrations from Iribe's catalog. The atmosphere mixes Fauvism and exoticism. The striped areas are in Matisse's taste and a wall painting could have been a marine in Collioure. Orientalism is brought by the profile of the dark haired woman and by the hand of Fatima that she wears as a pendant.
The intention to please Poiret is obvious. The title of the book in the hands of Augusta is Rabelais. This reference may be an unidentified connivance with Poiret. The curled cat in the foreground makes a friendly wink.
The influence of fashion is helping to shift Van Dongen from anarchism and cabarets to the elegant society. 'Deauville' is published in 1931 with five engravings by Van Dongen and a text by Poiret.
