Christopher Wood

Redfern Gallery, London, where acquired by the family of the present owners, 5th November 1955

London, Mayor Gallery, Twenty Five Years of British Painting 1910-1935, April - May 1935, cat. no.42, as Paris Street Scene (possibly);
London, Redfern Gallery, Christopher Wood, Exhibition of Complete Works, 3rd March - 2nd April 1938, cat. no.103.

Eric Newton, Christopher Wood, Redfern Gallery, London, 1938, p.66, cat. no.103.

The board is unevenly cut and is a little bowed along the bottom edge. There are very minor framing abrasions along the extreme edges. There is minor surface dirt and the work may benefit from cleaning. There is an isolated area of reticulation to the green bush in the centre of the far left of the composition, visible upon closer inspection. There are several tiny flecks of surface matter in the upper right hand quadrant, visible upon close inspection and under ultraviolet light, which do not appear in keeping with the artist's hand. This excepting the work appears to be in good, original condition. Ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of fluorescence or retouching. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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Wood first visited Paris in 1921 on the invitation of Alphonse Kahn who was ‘I suppose, the greatest authority in France on paintings, sculpture, pottery and every form of art’ (Wood, letter to his mother 23^rdMarch 1921, Tate Gallery Archive 773.1). He initially studied at the Académie Julian then the Grande Chaumière and was quickly introduced to the intellectual and artistic circles of the city.

Paris Square, Bare Trees, certainly betrays a modern Parisian influence, most particularly that of the Impressionists. The perspective is distorted, the fashionable tree lined avenue, viewed from an upstairs window, is thrust upwards - a composition that finds its roots in works such as Boulevard des Capucines (1873) by Claude Monet and Rue Halevy, Seen from the Sixth Floor (1878) by Gustave Cailbotte. The focus on the urban environment seen from above was one that occupied many artists in the late 19^th century, inspired by the architecture of the new urban space following Haussmannization. The opening up and regulating of the streets changed the way the city spaces were utilized and led to the modern concept of strolling through the environment for pleasure. In the present work, the architecture of the city is certainly a focus, providing a frame for the fashionable individuals with parasols and couples enjoying a wander, who are visible through the bare trees.  

Wood was fascinated by the Paris he discovered in the 1920s, the artistic history, the culture and nightlife, and the present work is a testament to this bustling energy he encountered. While the subject is rooted in a 19^th century source, his treatment is thoroughly modernist, as he utilises his usual broad and fluid handling: the palette is muted and the scene is flattened and abstracted, the forms of the buildings reduced to tonal planes, the branches of the trees becoming a patterned grid work. 

The same Parisian square features in Wood's Paris Snow Scene, 1926 (Kettle's Yard, Cambridge) and is apparently a view from the flat of Tony Gandarillas, who was Wood's cohort in Paris.