MAURICE UTRILLO

The authenticity of the painting has been confirmed by the Comité Maurice Utrillo, Paris, 13 March 2019.

Provenance:
- Hôtel Drouot, Paris, auction 20 December 1956.
- Koller Auctions, Zurich, auction 13 November 1975, lot 2882.
- Private collection New York, acquired at the above auction and by descent to the present owner.

Literature:
- Pétrides, Paul: L'œuvre complète de Maurice Utrillo. Paris 1962, vol. II, p. 30/31, no. 437 (with ill.).
- Mac Orlan, Pierre: Utrillo, Paris 1952, p. 7, no. 45 (with ill.).

This painting comes from Utrillo’s most important period, the "période blanche". These works are characterised by white impasto applied with a knife and sometimes mixed with plaster that the painter found in Montmartre. Neo-impressionist influences can also still be seen in these works.

The depicted house on the corner of Rue Mont-Cenis and Rue Saint-Vincent was once inhabited by the composer Hector Berlioz (1834-37), and Georges Braque set up his studio here from 1911 onwards. The period’s spatial-geometric emphasis, also obviously present in this work, can be seen as an approach towards the then predominant Analytical Cubism initiated by Braque and Picasso.

A similar work of this house is now located in the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. It is dated 13 September 1914 and was produced shortly after this version.