Jean Dunand

Private Collection
Thence by descent to a Private Rhode Island Collector, circa 1980
Sotheby's New York, December 14, 2007, lot 408
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 1925

Félix Marcilhac, Jean Dunand:  His Life and Works, London, 1991, p. 42 (for a later, smaller screen depicting the Brittany coast with the same striated eggshell treatment of the sky)

Overall in excellent condition. The screen has recently been cleaned and conserved by a professional museum-caliber conservator specializing in lacquerwork. All of the lacquer and eggshell is original. The screen presents beautifully with great clarity, vibrancy and color saturation. The panels with only a few occassional light surface scatches, surface abrasions and minor edge wear (the latter mostly reserved to a few of the edges on the bracket feet and edges adjacent to the hinges) consistent with age and gentle use. The upper egg shell regiser is in beautiful condition, displaying exquisite execution and shading to the linear decoration. All of the egg shell is intact and undisturbed, with only a few minute surface losses. The seashore landscape is exquisitely carved, showing extraordinary detail and a wide range of coloration. An outstanding and highly visual multi-panel screen by the artist in beautiful 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.
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.

First exhibited in a special group exhibition at Galerie Georges Petit in Paris in 1925, this screen was one of five screens chosen for the exhibition, and clearly one of Dunand’s finest works in lacquer.  The screen depicts Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys, a Breton village on the Quiberon Bay off the Northwest Coast of France.   This subject was repeated in the four smaller screens exhibited in 1925 and thus shows the artist’s special affection for the small town where his family spent their holidays.   In 2007, the screen was re-discovered as a lost masterwork by Dunand.

A dynamic coastline bisects the screen between the frenetically textured agricultural landscape of Saint-Gildas and the calm, deep blue waters of the Quiberon Bay, dotted with small sailboats and schooners trailed by minute, glittering swells.  The interest in exoticism at this time in France and Europe at large is clearly demonstrated by the compositional elements of this piece, and Dunand’s exposure to imported works of decorative art and ethnic collections from Japan and Africa would greatly influence his style.  The abstract quality of the eggshell-lacquered sky coupled with the earth-tone patterns of the landscape suggest a woodblock print effect, while the stepped black feet of the screen’s base clearly reference the popularity of japonesque styles in Art Deco designs.  While Dunand was looking toward these foreign precedents, it is nevertheless clear that the screen is an unconventional modern masterwork:  the composition plays with the perception of depth and volume, challenging the viewer to discern form in the vastly intricate patterns of the lacquered surfaces, and contrasting deeply with the pacific smoothness of the seascape, ultimately playing on asymmetry and counterbalance to achieve a dramatic effect.