Louis Marcoussis

Private Collection, Paris
Galerie de l'Institut, Paris
Galerie Philippe Reichenbach, Houston
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owners in 1960

Cologne, Kölnischer Kunstverein, 1960 

Jean Lafranchis, Louis Marcoussis, Paris, 1961, no. P. 41, illustrated p. 244

In very good condition. The work is strip lined. There is some minor cracking mostly in the upper part of the work, in the darkest pigments, and along the edges. The artist's technique employed scraping the sur face of the canvas, to reveal under layers of pigments, which you can see here in the edge of the table, the card face, and top of the bottle, and in a number of other places. This scraping down is inherent to the process. Under UV: uneven varnish layer fluoresces, and there are a few small retouches in the lower left quadrant. Otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The genre of still life easel painting dates back to the sixteenth century in Western Art and remains a popular subject of artists to the present day. As the Impressionist movement gave way to the Divisionists working at the end of the nineteenth century, the year 1900 gave way to the modern era. The questions asked in artists' circles at that time were vexing. In what direction was pictorial and sculptural art headed? One revolutionary path that evolved after the turn of the century was Fauvism. However, if one "movement" can be responsible for shaking the foundation of figurative painting that spread abstraction, as witnessed in Italy with Futurism, Russia with Constructivism and Holland with Neo-Plasticism, artists following those developments owe their art to Cubism.

Café society in turn-of-the-century Paris was the crucible for debate amongst artists and writers. Long hours of heated exchanges between artists, at times aided by excesses of alcohol, ended in fisticuffs. Still, the trappings of the Parisian cafés provided ample subject matter to be captured by artists. In the present work, a panoply of objects populate a café tabletop providing the viewer with the accoutrements associated with smoke-filled Parisian cafés. The menu, playing card and pipe occupy the foreground of the composition. A theatrical stroke of drama has been created by the inclusion of a raised curtain that reveals the "siphon" or fizz bottle and glass.

Fig. 1 Louis Marcoussis and his wife, the painter Alice Halicka, 1914

Fig. 2 Paris, 1925, photograph by André Kertész

Fig. 3 Juan Gris, Le Siphon, 1913, Oil on canvas, Rose Art Museum, Waltham, Massachusetts