André Lhote

Private Collection, France (acquired in the 1930s)
Thence by descent

Paris, Galerie La Boétie, La Section d'Or, 1912, no. 89
Paris, 14ème Salon d'Automne, 1921
Paris, Galerie Vavin-Raspail, La Section d'Or, 1925
Brussels, Galerie Le Centaure, André Lhote, 1929

Anatole Jakovsky, André Lhote, 48 reproductions commentées par le peintre, Paris, 1947, illustrated no. 11
André Lhote, 1885-1962 (exhibition catalogue), Valencia, 2003, illustrated in a photograph of the 1925 exhibition, p. 29
André Lhote (exhibition catalogue), Madrid, Fundación MAPFRE & Bordeaux, Musée des beaux-arts, 2007, illustrated no. 221

The canvas has been strip lined at the edges. The colours are fresh and bright. Close inspection reveals some stable hairline craquelure particularly visible in the lighter pigments. Under UV light, scattered areas or retouching fluoresce: notably thin strips along the extreme edges, small spots in the flowers and some horizontal lines towards the right edge. Otherwise this work is in overall very 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."

Painted in 1912, a historic year in the history of Cubism, Nature morte en plein airis one of the most beautiful examples of Lhote’s Cubist still lives. Bursting with energy and painted with a superb chromatic finesse, this work depicts ordinary objects in a dramatic composition, an impression reinforced by the compact viewpoint chosen by the artist.

1912 was a critical year in the career of André Lhote. Indeed, it was this year that the Parisian Galerie de la Boétie held the famous “Salon de la Section d’Or”, in which the painter exhibited ten paintings, including Nature morte en plein air. One of the most ambitious exhibitions presented by the Cubist group, it became a landmark in the history of art. It was in fact during this exhibition that Nu descendant l’escalier by Marcel Duchamp, Lavabo by Juan Gros and La Noce by Fernand Léger were presented for the first time. From a stylistic point of view, the works of art painted by Lhote in 1912 are characterised by a much more rigorous Cubist approach than his earlier paintings, which were still influenced by the Fauve and Symbolist movements. The paintings of this period show a systematic use of geometry and an omnipresence of shortened perspectives. These paintings are some of the most important of his entire career, including his views of the Port de Bordeaux or his mythological compositions such as the Bacchantes, Les Trois Grâces or the Jugement de Paris.

Nature morte en plein air is particularly revealing of these new experimentations that André Lhote was exploring during 1912, both in the terms of colour and of shape. The influence of Cézanne, who Lhote considered to be the pioneer of the modern age, is particularly noticeable, especially in the formal construction of shapes. We can also note the important influence of Gauguin’s art in the treatment of colour. In the present painting the influence of the Pont-Aven master is much more palpable than in his earlier Fauve period. While Lhote uses bright colours to differentiate himself from the almost monochrome palette of the Cubism movement and infuse his paintings with their own personality; the shapes shown from multiple viewpoints and the subject matter of the still-life nevertheless conform to Cubist principals. Nature morte en plein air is thus a fine example of the new lyricism that Lhote injected into Cubism: in this painting we see how the artist uses geometry in order to express modern reality.

Nature morte en plein air occupies a special place in Lhote’s art. The same year the artist decided to rework this painting’s composition in another of his famous works, Dimanche (Dimanche, 1912, Petit Palais, Geneva). In this painting, which depicts a group enjoying a picnic on a lawn, the painter reintegrates Nature morte en plein air’s composition on the left of the painting with a group of opposed diagonals. So important was Nature morte en plein air to Lhote that he chose to present the painting during the exhibition “Salon de la Section d’Or” organised in 1925 at the Galerie Vavin-Raspail. This exhibition was a partial reconstitution of the Salon held in 1912, in homage to the glorious post-war years during which the group of artists had worked closely together around the same conception of art. Nature morte en plein air was one of the few artworks chosen by Lhote to illustrate this prestigious period, thus underlining the importance of this piece in the career of the painter and the history of Cubism.