F
ollowing the conclusion of World War One, Georges Valmier emerged as one of the leading painters of the Cubist style. The small, delicate collages which garnered him attention in 1916 were markedly different from the works of older Cubists like Picasso, Braque and Gris, their distinction perhaps most clearly demonstrated through Valmier's ebullient use of color. Rather than using the muted, neutral palette favored by the pre-war Cubists, Valmier embraced bold, vibrant hues in his paintings as a means of expression. "With the current plastic expressions," Valmier wrote, "color takes on its true meaning, its own life. Color is the substance which is destined to express the intellect"(quoted in Denise Bazetoux, Georges Valmier, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1993, p. 20).
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Valmier had his first one-man exhibition in 1921 at the Galerie de l'Effort Moderne in Paris, a gallery belonging to the dealer Léonce Rosenberg, with whom Valmier had signed a contract in 1919. By this time, Valmier had already developed his signature style of flattened planes articulated by expressive patterning- a style exemplified by the present work. From 1920 onwards the Galerie de l'Effort Moderne handled Valmier's entire production. Léonce Rosenberg was particularly interested in Cubism and the ideas of Neo-plasticism initiated by Mondrian, and he advised Valmier personally.
Record Prices at auction acheived by Valmier and his Fellow Cubists since 2000
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