Auguste Herbin

Hertz Collection, Cologne
Tannenbaum Gallery, New York
Kunstsalon Abels, Cologne
Herbert Tannenbaum Gallery, Rye, New York
Dr. Theodore Leshner
Acquired from the above

This work is in very good condition. Canvas is strip lined and supported by a very thin translucent lining of crepeline which is affixed with Beva. The canvas maker’s stamp is visible on the reverse. Surface impasto well retained. Under UV light there are a few pindots of inpainting in the white drape on the figure's right shoulder and where the drape crosses her left arm. There are also a few tiny pindots in the figure's hair at upper left. Otherwise fine.
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In 1906 Auguste Herbin completely embraced Fauvism. Inspired by other artists within the movement, led by Henri Matisse and André Derain (see fig 1), as well as his travels through the south of France, he employed an increasingly wild use of color. In March of 1907 he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants alongside Derain, Vlaminck and Braque, and in October he exhibited additional Fauve works at the fifth Salon d'Automne at the Grand Palais.

Femme assise de profil is characterized by Auguste Herbin's vibrant palette. His bold, slashing brushstrokes lead the eye from the demure figure to the bright yellow-green background to the electric blue, red and pink dashes that outline her form. This tender portrait of a draped nude woman presents compelling proof of the artist's ability to capture the effects of shifting light; whether in a sun-drenched landscape, a shimmering Meditteranean sea or in this sitter’s dynamically posed portrait, Herbin leaves naturalism behind.

Geneviève Claisse, in her catalogue raisonné of Auguste Herbin, highlights the artist's authenticity and originality: "...[the] bearer of an ethical tradition of work and social duty, Herbin approached each painting as a new creation in its own right. There was no self-indulgence permitted, no deliberate repetition, no nod to critics, patrons, institutions nor, of course the market" (Geneviève Claisse, Herbin, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, 1993, Lausanne, n.p.).