ANDRÉ DERAIN | Paysage de l’Île-de-France

Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Galerie Marcel Bernheim, Paris
Galerie Paul Pétrides, Paris
Ari Blanchette, Paris
Sale: Sotheby’s, London, April 24, 1968, lot 114
Mrs. L. Phillips, Europe
Sale: Galerie Motte, Geneva, June 27-29, 1969, lot 405
Acquired at the above sale

Paris, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Les Fauves, l'atelier Gustave Moreau, 1934, no. 22 (titled Paysage du Nord)
Tokyo, Galerie Seibu & Kanazawa, Musée Départmental de Ishikawa, Les Fauves, 1974, no. 14, illustrated in the catalogue
London, Lefevre Gallery, Important XIX and XX Century Paintings and Drawings, 1980, no. 5
Southampton, Southampton Art Gallery, Sounds of Colour, 1982, no. 54 (titled Paysage)
London, Arts Council of Great Britain & Nottingham, Nottingham Castle Museum, Sounds of Colour, 1983-84, no. 15
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art & London, Royal Academy of Arts, The Fauve Landscape, 1990-91, no. 180, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art; Kyoto, The National Museum of Modern Art & Tokyo, The National Museum of Modern Art, Fauvism and Modern Japanese Painting, 1992-93, no. 8, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Paris, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, André Derain, Le Peintre du trouble moderne, 1994-95, no. 9, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales & Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Fauves, 1995, no. 13, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Fauvism—"Wild Beasts," 1996, no. 10

Marcel Giry, Le Fauvisme et son évolution, 1981, no. 41, illustrated
Michel Kellermann, André Derain, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, 1992, no. 32, illustrated p. 20

Please contact the Impressionist & Modern Art department directly for a condition report of this lot.
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.

Paysage de l’Île-de-France prefigures the Fauve revolution which would take form the year after this work’s completion. The vibrant oranges, blues and pinks in the fields provide the precursor for his seaside compositions of the Mediterranean later in the decade. His use of bold, expressive color suggests an awareness of the work of both van Gogh and Gauguin. Derain is well known for his central role in the early development of the Fauve movement, and this painting is a testament to just how early his explorations with color began (see fig. 1). Paysage de l’Île-de-France belongs to a series of landscapes that Derain executed in the winter of 1904-05. These precocious works launched his professional career and contributed to the creation of the School of Chatou. Interestingly, it was Matisse who introduced Derain to the legendary dealer Ambroise Vollard in February 1905, and the dealer subsequently bought out Derain’s studio.

L’Île-de-France is the region surrounding Paris, in north-central France. Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck grew up in Chatou, where they shared an atelier in the beginning of the 1900s. Vlaminck described the earliest days of the Fauve movement in 1904 when he and Derain often worked side-by-side: “Each of us set up his easel, Derain facing Chatou, with the bridge and steeple in front of him, myself to one side, attracted by the poplars. Naturally I finished first. I walked over to Derain holding my canvas against my legs so that he couldn’t see it. I looked at his picture. Solid, skillful, powerful, already a Derain. ‘What about yours?’ he said. I spun my canvas around. Derain looked at it in silence for a minute, nodded his head, and declared, ‘Very fine.’ That was the starting point of all ‘Fauvism’” (quoted in Judi Freeman, The Fauve Landscape (exhibition catalogue), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1990, p. 15).