Kees van Dongen

Private Collection, United States (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 13, 1996, lot 197A)
Acquired at the above sale 

Canvas is unlined. Colors are extremely bright and fresh and a thick, textured impasto is well preserved. Some cracking the dark blue pigments of the sky, primarily near the top edge. Under UV light one pindot of inpainting is visible one and a half inches below the center of the top edge, otherwise fine. Overall this work is in excellent 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.

Kees van Dongen came from humble origins, born in 1877 in a small suburb of Rotterdam. Shortly after arriving in Paris in 1900 however, he quickly achieved immense popularity for his Fauve figure paintings and received commisions from many members of Parisian high society. He soon developed a reputation for enjoying night life, cabarets, and the leisure activities of the wealthy; he visited Italy, Spain, Morocco and the South of France where he immersed himself in the favorite pastimes of the upper class.

In the 1920s van Dongen began to turn away from his Fauve color palette of the early 1900s, partly because he was inspired by the colors that he encountered on his travels to the Mediterranean and also in response the tastes of his new clientele. His later works thus contain a more harmonious color palette as he sought to create more sophisticated and universally appealing pictures. His newfound wealth enabled him to buy an elaborate villa in the city of Cannes, a location that afforded him greater accessibility to his clients and high society, and in the 1920s and again in the mid-1950s van Dongen rendered picturesque scenes of the Cannes shoreline. Cannes, le Mont Chevalier captures the luminosity and carefree spirit of the city, with the resort activities of sailing and strolling on the beach illustrating it as a paradise for respite. Van Dongen centers our attention upon the white sailboats which are juxtaposed in the deep blue water. The sky is rendered with long, shimmering brushstrokes, imparting a feeling of tranquility to the scene.