Maurice Utrillo

Alfred Hitchcock, Los Angeles
Galerie Petrides, Paris (sale: Sotheby’s, London, 30th November 1988, lot 208)
Private Collection, Switzerland (purchased at the above sale; sale: Christie’s, London, 22nd June 2005, lot 196)
Purchased from the above sale by the present owner

The canvas is not lined. Examination under UV light reveals a small area of retouching to the centre of the upper edge and to the upper right corner. There is some frame rubbing with associated pigment loss, predominantly along the right edge; there is a further small area of pigment loss to the upper right corner and a few specks of pigment loss to the uppermost sail of the right hand windmill. There are some fine lines of craquelure visible to the thicker white pigments. This work is in overall 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."

Renowned for his atmospheric and subtly nostalgic views of Paris, Maurice Utrillo immortalised a timeless realisation of the city within his paintings over the course of several decades. Depicting a Montmartre still relatively untouched by urbanisation, the present work illustrates three famous windmills which would have dominated the skyline - the Blute-Fin, the Debray and the Radet – covered by a delicate dusting of snow. Born in Montmartre, the area exerted a strong emotional pull on Utrillo, and he painted its streets, windmills and cafés in painstaking detail throughout his life. Alfred Werner comments on the artist’s remarkable ability to distil the hidden essence of these familiar surroundings: ‘Utrillo’s works make it perfectly clear to a visitor to the hill of Montmartre… that it is an artist’s task to reveal to us an aspect of his subject matter that escapes us in ordinary experience. Matter-of-fact and unromantic as Utrillo may have seemed to be while labouring at a piece of canvas or cardboard, he was actually a poet who achieved an emotional equilibrium, an inward harmony, that is only rarely attained…. The painter-poet, singling out a motif, leads us out of confusion to the highest state of mind – clarity’ (Alfred Werner, Utrillo, London, 1981, p. 40).

The present work was formerly in the collection of Alfred Hitchcock, the film-director renowned for his immensely successful psychological thrillers such as The Birds and Psycho. Hitchcock and his wife amassed an important collection of Twentieth Century art at their Bel Air home, which included a group of works by School of Paris artists as well as other works by Utrillo, which were considered to be amongst the most valuable works in his entire collection.