Albert Marquet

Marcelle Marquet (the artist's wife)
Jean-Claude Martinet (by descent from the above)
Galerie Hopkins Custot, Paris
Acquired from the above in 2005

Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, L'Art et la mode, 1965, no. 10
Paris, Grand Palais, Les Indépendants à la belle époque 1895-1901, 1966
Paris, Galerie Schmit, Marquet, 1875-1947, 1967, no. 3, illustrated in the catalogue
Bordeaux, Galerie des beaux arts, Albert Marquet, 1875-1974, 1975
Paris, L'Orangerie des Tuileries, 1975, no. 4, illustrated in the catalogue

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined and slightly bowed. The surface retains a very textured, rich impasto. There are some hairlines instances of cracquelure primarily on the lighter pigments. Under UV light: thin, vertical hairlines of retouching are visible in the lower right quadrant. There is a small restoration in the upper center near the edge. Otherwise, fine.
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.
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Very little is known about Marquet’s early life, however much can be inferred from this portrait of his mother, painted eight years after he moved to Paris to study at the École des arts decoratifs. Far from a sentimental rendering, the distant composition implies a cold upbringing. The sitter’s impassive expression is hard to read, yet there is a palpable poignancy in her gaze. Marquet was clearly fascinated with his mother as subject and would return to her many times throughout his career, much like seventeenth-century portraitist Rembrandt (see fig. 1). The strong Fauvist hues are characteristic of Marquet’s early works and hearken to the artist’s close friendship with Henri Matisse and the influence of peers such as André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Raoul Dufy. However, Marquet worked in a style uniquely his own, “preferring his own intuition, and developing a style which owed something to the compositions of Fauvism and the sensatory researches of Impressionism, but which was really and truly his own. Cubism and abstract art seem to have totally passed him by” (David F. Setford, From Fauvism to Impressionism: Albert Marquet (exhibition catalogue), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2001-02, p. 6)