Sir Matthew Smith

Arthur Tooth, London, whence purchased by Herbert Marks, 7th June 1934, and thence by descent to Norah Marks 
Given as a gift from the above to the present owner's family, 1988

The canvas is unlined. There is an area of repaired damage in the upper right quadrant. There is a fleck of paint loss in the upper right quadrant. There are scattered small areas of fine craquelure across the surface. A series of short fine hairs are embedded in the paint surface along the upper edge and in small areas across the surface. Examination under ultra-violet light reveals small spots of retouching to the area of repaired damage in the upper right quadrant. Held under glass in a reproduction Louis XV-style frame.
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Matthew Smith visited France for the first time in 1908, when he travelled to Pont Aven, Brittany. Except for occasional trips to England for Christmas and to visit friends, Smith remained in France between 1908 and 1914. At the outbreak of World War I, Smith returned to London and took a studio at 2, Fitzroy Street. He would spend the rest of his life dividing his time between England and France.

The present work appears to date from Smith's trip to France in 1932. Smith had moved back to Paris in the winter of 1929 where he took a studio at 10, Passage Noirot. He spent the following years in Paris and making trips elsewhere: to Auvergne, Arles and Grez. In 1932 Smith returned to London for his exhibition at Arthur Tooth and Sons in London. He made a trip to the Burgundy region in May and finally to Arles and Aix-en-Provence in the autumn where he painted landscapes. It is this series of landscapes in the autumn of 1932 which the present work appears to emerge from.

Smith has chosen to depict the mountain from a very low view point so that the bright peak rises from the expanse of vegetation in which Smith appears to have immersed himself. His depiction of Montagne Sainte Victoire (fig.1), painted on the same trip in 1932, shares the same low viewpoint and expressive brushstrokes as the present work, although the colouring suggests it depicts a different time of day. F.W. Halliday, friend and important patron of Smith, and the original owner of Montagne Sainte Victoire, recalled a conversation with Smith, who described the way in which the weather conditions could affect his painting technique. The bright sunlight and crisp conditions of Montagne Sainte Victoire are communicated to the viewer by the vibrant colour tones of the painting. As with the present work, the mountain is a solid mass amidst the mistral wind which blusters the vegetation in the foreground.  

The present work was exhibited at Arthur Tooth in London in 1934. A companion piece entitled Landscape near Vence (1932) was purchased by Augustus John from the same exhibition.

We are grateful to John Gledhill for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.