André Derain

Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Vollard Estate, Paris
Galerie Motte, Geneva
Acquired from the above by the father of the present owners in May 1964

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down. There is a maker's watermark intrinsic to the support to the top right and top left of the sheet. Apart from some overall slight discolouration to the sheet, this work is in good condition. Colours: Fairly accurate, the colours are more vibrant and the paper tone is warmer in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Les Baigneuses (Le Calme) was executed in 1906 at the height of Derain's influence as a pioneer of modernism. In the previous year he had unleashed the vibrant, violent colours of Fauvism on the Parisian art world at the Salon d'Automne. He had also recently discovered African tribal art, famously introducing Picasso to the Musée d'Ethnographie in the Trocadéro, and was one of the first artists to develop the archaistic form of abstraction that would later morph into Cubism. Such was his significance to those around him that Guillaume Apollinaire was later to write in 1913 '[This] tormented personality, enamoured of form and colour, having awoken to art, has given far more than promises for he revealed their own personality to those he met: the meaning of symbolic colours to Matisse and of sublime new forms to Picasso' (Guillaume Apollinaire, 'La Peinture Moderne' in Der Sturm, 1913, reprinted in Chroniques d'art, 1902-1918, Paris, 1960, p. 272).

Stylistically Les Baigneuses is at the intersection of Fauvism and Derain's later proto-Cubist works. Whilst the bold colours and subject matter are still reminiscent of Matisse's seminal Luxe, calme et volupte, the work also bears witness to an endeavour to find a way back to closed form and pure line with the aid of primitive stylistic techniques. The influence of the retrospective of Gauguin's work in the Salon d'Automne of 1906 can clearly be felt, and inspired by Gauguin's work, Derain and Picasso had begun experimenting with primitive wood engraving and taille directe, an ancient method of carving wood sculpture. The impact of these sculptural experiments can already be detected in the figures of Les Baigneuses, which combine strong, abstract forms with fauve colouration. At this stage in his career, Derain was in many ways the artistic trailblazer, introducing primitivist sculptural forms into his work in advance of Picasso. Indeed, as John Richardson observes, 'until the outbreak of World War 1, he [Derain] would be the norm against which Picasso could measure the progress he was making as a Cubist' (John Richardson, A Life of Picasso, London, 1996, vol. II, p. 77).