Georges Valmier

Atelier de l'artiste
Galerie Melki, Paris
Acquis du précédent dans les années 1970 par le propriétaire actuel

Paris, Galerie Saint-Augustin, Georges Valmier, peintures de 1907 à 1937, 1956, reproduit sur l'affiche annonçant l'exposition
Cologne, Kolnischer Kunstverein, Autour du Cubisme, 1964, no. 62
Paris, Galerie Melki, G. Valmier, 1975, reproduit p. 25

Denise Bazetoux, Georges Valmier, Paris, 1993, no. 675, reproduit p. 188

The canvas is lined. Apart from a scattered line of retouching along the edges, a sinuous line of retouching running towards the lower left corner and another 2 x 1 cm spot of retouching in the green pigment located in the right part of the composition (between the white and the red pigments), this work is in overall good condition.
"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."

signed 'G. Valmier' and dated '28' (lower right), oil on canvas. Painted in 1928.

ANDRE LHOTE, JEAN METZINGER, LOUIS MARCOUSSIS, GEORGES VALMIER
OEUVRES PROVENANT D'UNE IMPORTANTE COLLECTION PRIVEE PARISIENNE

"Si le cubisme fut bien crée par Braque et Picasso, suivis par Léger et Gris, il fut adopté en des écritures différentes par des personnalités riches et effervescentes  qui en tirèrent la quintessence, mais en lui transférant leur caractère propre" (Michel Arveiller, Au Temps des cubistes, p. 23). S'ils avaient tous participé à l'aventure du Cubisme dès les expositions au Salon des indépendants en 1908 ou avec le groupe de la Section d'or en 1912, André Lhote, Jean Metzinger, Louis Marcoussis et Georges Valmier retrouvent une grammaire cubiste bouleversée par la guerre - auquel chacun pris part, à sa manière. "La guerre avait dispersé l'équipe, et détruisant un monde dans lequel le Cubisme était en train de s'avérer un style, le privait ainsi de son terrain nourricier. Restait un état d'esprit, ou mieux, une esthétique (...) Mais l'essentiel subsistait : le "but ultime" du Cubisme, la figuration du monde extérieur par des moyens non imitatifs, la création d'une écriture plastique autonome (...)" se souviendra Henri Laurens. L'ensemble ici présenté témoigne des nouvelles recherches esthétiques menées individuellement par quatre hérauts du Cubisme, à la recherche d'un nouvelle équilibre entre représentation des volumes et couleur de la forme.   

Sotheby's a le privilège de présenter un ensemble de 4 grands tableaux cubistes achetés par un couple de collectionneurs parisiens dans les années 1970 et jamais proposées sur le marché depuis.

 

Cinq gouaches préparatoires à l'exécution de cette grande composition sont connues, signes de l'importance que lui a accordée Valmier. Le Couple sera également retenu pour l'affiche annonçant l'exposition Valmier en 1956, à la galerie Saint-Augustin à Paris, qui ne présentait que des oeuvres alors inédites et retrouvées dans l'atelier du peintre après sa mort en 1937.

 

ANDRE LHOTE, JEAN METZINGER, LOUIS MARCOUSSIS, GEORGES VALMIER
WORKS FROM A PRIVATE PARISIAN COLLECTION

"If Cubism was originally created by Braque and Picasso, and then further pioneered by Léger and Gris, it was later adopted and re-written by several strong, effervescent personalities, who distilled its quintessence but added their own trademarks (Michel Arveiller, Au Temps des cubistes, p. 23).  Having each participated in the rise of Cubism by exhibiting at the Salon des indépendants in 1908 and with the Section d'or group in 1912, Jean Metzinger, Louis Marcoussis and Georges Valmier found that the fundamental rules of Cubism had been completely overhauled by the war. Each artist faced this challenge in a unique way, developing their own personal Cubist style.  "The war had broken up the team, and had destroyed the world in which the Cubists were trying to establish a style, thus stripping them of their training ground. Their spirit and aesthetic vision was all that remained (...) But the essential concepts survived: the "ultimate goal" of Cubism, the representation of another world through non-imitative means and the creation of an autonomous visual vocabulary (...)" recalled Henri Laurens.  The group of works presented here serves as a testimony to the new aesthetic experiments conducted by these four principal exponents of Cubism after the First World War, and to their quest to achieve a renewed balance between the representation of shapes, colours and volumes.

Sotheby's is proud to present a remarkable group of four cubist works acquired by a discerning couple directly from Parisian galleries. This is the first time these works have been seen on the market since their original purchase in the 1970s.

 

Five preparatory gouache sketches for this large composition are known to exist, signalling the importance the artist himself gave to this piece.  Le Couple was also used to illustrate the poster advertising the Valmier exhibition that took place in 1956 at the Galerie Saint-Augustin in Paris, which unveiled for the first time the works that were found in the painter's studio after his death in 1937.