Kees van Dongen

Galerie Borghese, Paris

Galerie Amante, Paris

Jacques Lindon, New York

Galerie Pétridès, Paris

Edmond Tenoudji, Paris

Private Collection, Paris

Sale: Guy Loudmer, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 19, 1988, lot 47

Acquired by the present owner at the above sale

 

 

Very good condition. Original canvas A close inspection reveals some stable shrinkage in the blue pigment of the figure's eyes and hair as well as the light blue pigment of her sleeve. Examination under UV light reveals a small group of tiny spots of retouching to the background in the upper right quadrant and various spots of retouching along the edges to cover frame rubbing.
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.

In this masterly painting, Van Dongen's subject here is a female guitarist.  Her costume and hairstyle allude to the Spanish flamenco performers so popular in cabaret culture at the time.  Van Dongen was not alone in his fascination with this subject.  Picasso, Braque and the Cubists had all provided various interpretations of this theme, but represented in an abstracted style far removed from Van Dongen's alluring depiction (figs. 2 & 3).

 

The commonalities between the present work and the pictures of Picasso are rooted in the artists’ common history working together at the Bateau-Lavoir during the early 1900s.  One can see similarities in Picasso's early café pictures, completed at the turn of the century in Paris, and the society portraits that dominated Van Dongen's production nearly a decade later.  But with these later pictures, it is as if Van Dongen has sanitized Picasso's debauched characters and re-presented them here with a certain respectability that would appeal to the upper echelons of the bourgeoisie.

Van Dongen started his career as an illustrator in his native Rotterdam but moved to Paris in 1897.  It was then that Félix Fénéon introduced him to artists associated with the avant-garde journal La Revue blanche, including Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. His politically-oriented drawings, executed in a notational style with vibrant colors, anticipated Fauvism. Van Dongen became known as a painter in 1905 when he showed at the Salon d'Automne alongside Henri Matisse, André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck. These artists would be dubbed "Les Fauves" or "Wild Beasts" for their unstudied handling of paint and daring use of color. As John Elderfield has noted, Van Dongen's stylistic progression seemingly passed through "a Neo-Impressionist phase. By 1905 he had found his way into a loose impromptu style analogous to the mixed-technique Fauvism of the Matisse circle, especially in his paintings of nudes. But the main direction of his art was fast becoming geared to the representation of subjects different from those of the other Fauves" (J. Elderfield, The "Wild Beasts": Fauvism and Its Affinities, New York, 1976, p. 66).

 

Van Dongen’s interest in Spanish and Orientalist themes dates to his visits to North Africa and Spain in 1909-10, not long after Matisse visited the area.  The experience profoundly influenced both artists' stylistic concerns, with Van Dongen showing a preference for richly textured and bejeweled costumes and sensuous coloration for the models in his pictures.  The taste for exoticism was broad-reaching during this era.  The records of Van Dongen’s dealer from this era, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, detail purchases of Van Dongen’s Spanish-themed subjects made by galleries, collectors and institutions throughout Germany during this time.  The preference was most probably linked to the rise of German Expressionism at this time and Van Dongen’s affiliation with the group, Die Brücke.