Maurice de Vlaminck

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 2, 1965, lot 42
Stephen Hahn, New York
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above in the 1970s)
Thence by descent

This work is in excellent overall condition. The canvas is not lined and there are no signs of retouching visible under UV light. The varnish has slightly discoloured in places, including to some vertical drip lines towards the centre of the lower edge. There is some intermittent frame abrasion along the edges. The canvas is very slightly undulating along the edges.
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.

The present work depicts the river Seine near Chatou, a small town located just northwest of Paris. Vlaminck, who moved to this region at the age of sixteen, was deeply attached to the local landscape which he strove to render in his paintings with the utmost intensity. Pierre-Auguste Renoir had also painted the Chatou bridge as early as 1881, and the area to this day is known as L'Île des Impressionnistes, reflecting this rich tradition of artists working in the area around the village and its bridge (see fig. 1). It was in Chatou that one of the critical partnerships at the core of the Fauve movement began with the chance meeting of Vlaminck and André Derain in June 1900, when their outbound train derailed shortly after leaving Paris. The two artists "struck up a conversation while walking the rest of the way to Chatou, where they both lived. It turned out that they both painted, and...they agreed to meet the next day under the Pont de Chatou...with their canvases. So it was, as Vlaminck later said in his typically ocular manner, that the 'School of Chatou was created'" (The Fauve Landscape (exhibition catalogue), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, p. 123).

The present work reflects the work of Vlaminck's early Fauve oeuvre while it is also indebted to his understanding of several other artistic styles and techniques that he experimented with thereafter—most notably those of Paul Cézanne. While the brushwork is consistent with Vlaminck’s earlier works, this painting exudes a sense of fluidity and darkness that recall the later work of Cézanne. The monochromatic palette, consisting of greens, browns, oranges and greys, is also reminiscent of the darker palette seen in the latter artist's paintings of the 1880s (see fig. 2).