Lot 3262 - A197 Impressionist & Modern Art - Friday, 02. July 2021, 05.00 PM
ALBERT MARQUET
(Bordeaux 1875–1947 Paris)
Montreux. 1937.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower right: marquet.
Titled and dated on the reverse: Montreux 37.
Titled and dated on the reverse: Montreux 37.
65 × 81 cm.
We would like to thank the Wildenstein-Plattner Institute for confirming the authenticity of the work, New York, 26 April 2021.
Provenance:
- Albert Marquet, Paris.
- Marcelle Marquet, Paris, by descent from the above.
- Alex Maguy, Paris, acquired from the above in 1965.
- Auction Galerie Motte, Geneva, 28 June 1969, lot 406 (as "Bord de lac").
- Galeria Theo, Madrid (label on the reverse).
- Galerie des Granges, Geneva.
- Auction Koller, Zurich, 2 November 1979, lot 5164.
- Galerie des Granges, Geneva.
- Swiss private collection, acquired from the above gallery on 4 January 1980.
Exhibited:
Amsterdam 1962, Albert Marquet, Rijksakademie, 13 June–16 July 1962, no. 39 (as "Lac Léman").
"Marquet se sentait chez lui, partout où il y avait de l’eau et des bateaux."
(Foreword by Marcelle Marquet for the Exposition Marquet. Vevey 1953. Musée Jenisch, 13 June–13 September 1953, p.12.)
“Marquet felt at home, wherever there was water and boats”, observed Marcelle Marquet of her husband's irrepressible penchant for water. Marquet’s port and river views captured on numerous trips throughout Europe are his most well-known. This impressive view of Montreux, created during his trip to Switzerland in 1936/37, confirms Marcelle's statement. With the intention of finding the snow in the Swiss Alps, the artist made various stops along the Vaudois Riviera, as can be seen in a small body of work of views of Lake Geneva. The thematic core of this composition is formed by the water of Lake Geneva, the surface of which the artist has skilfully captured the effects of the light and movements of the waves in a cool, quasi-monochromatic colour scheme. Captivated by a foreign body of water in a landscape previously unknown to him, Marquet avidly explored the atmospheric character and essence of the area through his brush.
Although Marquet was a co-founder of the Fauvists and enjoyed a deep friendship with Henri Matisse, he refrained from engaging in intense colour experiments in the present work, favouring a subdued palette that in turn produces chromatic vibrations from the sfumato of the mountain range in the background. The dominant monochromatic blue is balanced by lively accents of colour in the lake promenade in the foreground — there Marquet could not resist resorting to the Fauvist manner. In this view of Montreux, the artist has demonstrated his individual style, which vacillated between Post-Impressionism and Fauvism during the mature period of his oeuvre. The elevated perspective in the foreground is typical of his work and can also be found here, stabilised in the middle ground by the lake and the linearity of the horizontal shoreline. The essence of the work is thereby formed by the expansive lake, which in a light, scumbled application of paint stabilises the composition.
Provenance:
- Albert Marquet, Paris.
- Marcelle Marquet, Paris, by descent from the above.
- Alex Maguy, Paris, acquired from the above in 1965.
- Auction Galerie Motte, Geneva, 28 June 1969, lot 406 (as "Bord de lac").
- Galeria Theo, Madrid (label on the reverse).
- Galerie des Granges, Geneva.
- Auction Koller, Zurich, 2 November 1979, lot 5164.
- Galerie des Granges, Geneva.
- Swiss private collection, acquired from the above gallery on 4 January 1980.
Exhibited:
Amsterdam 1962, Albert Marquet, Rijksakademie, 13 June–16 July 1962, no. 39 (as "Lac Léman").
"Marquet se sentait chez lui, partout où il y avait de l’eau et des bateaux."
(Foreword by Marcelle Marquet for the Exposition Marquet. Vevey 1953. Musée Jenisch, 13 June–13 September 1953, p.12.)
“Marquet felt at home, wherever there was water and boats”, observed Marcelle Marquet of her husband's irrepressible penchant for water. Marquet’s port and river views captured on numerous trips throughout Europe are his most well-known. This impressive view of Montreux, created during his trip to Switzerland in 1936/37, confirms Marcelle's statement. With the intention of finding the snow in the Swiss Alps, the artist made various stops along the Vaudois Riviera, as can be seen in a small body of work of views of Lake Geneva. The thematic core of this composition is formed by the water of Lake Geneva, the surface of which the artist has skilfully captured the effects of the light and movements of the waves in a cool, quasi-monochromatic colour scheme. Captivated by a foreign body of water in a landscape previously unknown to him, Marquet avidly explored the atmospheric character and essence of the area through his brush.
Although Marquet was a co-founder of the Fauvists and enjoyed a deep friendship with Henri Matisse, he refrained from engaging in intense colour experiments in the present work, favouring a subdued palette that in turn produces chromatic vibrations from the sfumato of the mountain range in the background. The dominant monochromatic blue is balanced by lively accents of colour in the lake promenade in the foreground — there Marquet could not resist resorting to the Fauvist manner. In this view of Montreux, the artist has demonstrated his individual style, which vacillated between Post-Impressionism and Fauvism during the mature period of his oeuvre. The elevated perspective in the foreground is typical of his work and can also be found here, stabilised in the middle ground by the lake and the linearity of the horizontal shoreline. The essence of the work is thereby formed by the expansive lake, which in a light, scumbled application of paint stabilises the composition.
CHF 80 000 / 100 000 | (€ 82 470 / 103 090)
Sold for CHF 134 500 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.