HENRI EDMOND CROSS | Étude pour Le Cap Nègre

Jean Bouin-Luce, Paris
Private Collection, France (by descent from the above; Sale: Artcurial, Paris, 30th May 2012, lot 1)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the overmount along the upper edge. The sheet is gently undulating. The pigment to the sky has slightly faded and there are minor brown accretions along the upper edge. There is old residue from former mounts along the left and right edge, not visible when framed. There is evidence of former mount residue to the verso on all four edges. There is a small spot of skinning to the orange sail in the centre left of the composition. 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."

This work is a study for the painting Le Cap Nègre, Le Baie de Pramousquier, 1906, which formerly belonged in the collection of esteemed painted Théo Van Rysselberghe. The study depicts a characteristic subject from Cross's later years, Le Cap Nègre situated on the coast of the Midi, between Toulon and St Tropez. Two miles from the artist's home in St Clair, Le Cap Nègre represents a freedom and ebullience, complimented by regular Taches, which are quintessential to the artist's painterly technique. The present work was first in the collection of Jean Bouin-Luce, the esteemed art historian and author of the Maximilien Luce catalogue raisonné.  'Harmony implies sacrifices. We always proceed from an impression of nature. Well, relative to nature one cannot put everything on a canvas, and it isn't so much that one can't put everything, but that one can put only very little. These few things become everything - the work of the man'
(Cross to Van Rysselberghe, quoted in John Rewald, Post-Impressionism from Van Gogh to Gauguin, New York, 1962, p. 130)



This work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue raisonné of Henri Edmond Cross being prepared by Patrick Offenstadt.