Auktion: Modernt & samtida
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Hammered at SEK 1.450.000 at Uppsala Auktionskammare’s Important Sale Week 10-13 December 2019
Nr. 657 André Lhote (France 1885‑1962). ”Nature morte dans le jardin”. Signed and dated A. Lhote -16 and signed A. Lhote on reverse. Oil on canvas, 100 x 64.5 cm.
This work will be included in the forthcoming André Lhote catalogue raisonné being prepared by Dominique Bermann Martin.
With label “Herr Georg Pauli, Storängen” and stamp “Auktion Pauli 1942” on the stretcher.
800.000 – 1.000.000 SEK
€ 74.000 – 93.000
The collection of artist Georg Pauli (1855-1935), Stockholm.
Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm, auction no. 36, “Georg och Hanna Paulis samling”, 20 March 1942, cat. no. 418.
Bukowskis Auktioner, Stockholm, 27 November 1990, cat. no. 191.
A Swedish Private Collection, acquired at the above sale.
Nya konstgalleriet, Stockholm, ”Exposition d’art moderne français”, 1916.
Christiania, Copenhagen, ”Exposition d’art moderne français”, February 1917.
The art magazine Flamman, Analys och argument, No. 3 March 1917, the painting illustrated and explained by André Lhote, translated to Swedish by Georg Pauli.
Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm, auction catalogue no. 36, Georg och Hanna Paulis samling, auction II, 20 March 1942, listed p. 44.
Executed during a time when the world was marked by a devastating war and new radical movements challenged the art scene, André Lhote’s vibrant “Nature morte dans le jardin” is a captivating reminiscence of the past and present. While experiencing horrifying scenes on the war front, Lhote turned to the lush gardens and the beauty of the nature when seeking inspiration for his paintings. Everyday objects and the peacefulness of flowering gardens provided an important relief in a time of great uncertainty. In the mid 1910’s he created some of his most celebrated works and today most of them are included in prominent private collections and museums worldwide.
Initially inspired by traditional masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix, the French artist André Lhote encountered his greatest inspiration during his first visit to Paris in 1907. At the Salon d’Automne, the vibrant works of Paul Cézanne had just been presented to the public and the young André Lhote was immediately struck by the colourful and almost luminous compositions. Today regarded as one of the most influential post-impressionist painters, Cézanne formed a bridge between the late 19th century movement Impressionism and the early 20th century Cubism. André Lhote successfully combined movements using the angular features of Cubism together with the bright colours of Post-impressionism. Both an artist and an important art critic, André Lhote qualified his own way of painting as “ambiant cubism” and declared: “To use colour well is as difficult as for a fish to pass from water to air on earth”.
Born in 1885 in Bordeaux in France, André Lhote learned woodcarving from the age of 12 and trained to become a sculptor, before he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux. He painted on his spare time, influenced by Paul Gauguin and Cézanne, and eventually moved to Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century, Paris was flourishing with life and attracted artists from all over the world who wanted to educate themselves and seek inspiration from the many prominent galleries and museums. André Lhote fell into the influential artist group Section d’Or, which included artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Jean Metzinger and the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. In 1910 after fours years in Paris, he held his first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Druet and a few years later he presented ten works at Section d’Or’s 1912 Salon. In contrast to contemporary operating artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who were fully committed to the broken up forms of Cubism, Lhote retained elements of representation and Classicism in his paintings and continued to do so even in his later works.
The young André Lhote settled down in a studio where he could devote himself fully to painting as well as indulging in the captivating life of Paris. Even after the outbreak of World War I, Paris was thriving of life, creativity and optimism. Lhote was however drafted to the military and he served in the French army until 1917, which interrupted his work. Only a small number of paintings from these years exist, a vivid example being the oil on canvas “Nature morte dans le jardin” from 1916. This vibrant painting illustrates Lhote’s own brand of Cubism and the decorative quality of his work. Around the year of 1916, the importance of local colour and the influences which tones could exert in the build up of the composition became his main focus. The energetic canvas included in the sale engages the viewer with its contrasting fields of colours, forming a pattern of geometric shapes and diagonal lines. The changing colours of the nature with its growing fruits and flowers inspired him to paint even during a turbulent time of war. Perhaps the return to landscapes and ordinary items such as the teapot, bucket, a pair of clogs and plaques in terracotta visible in “Nature morte dans le jardin” provided the necessary atmosphere for artistic creativity to blossom. The following year, the infamous art dealer and gallery owner Léonce Rosenberg included Lhote in his group of cubist artists. Rosenberg’s Galerie de l’Effort Moderne was one of the most prestigious and forthcoming galleries in Paris. Being an early advocate of Cubism, his gallery was open to all forms of Cubism and Abstract art. Through the Salon des Indépendants, the art dealer Wilhelm Uhde and at the gallery of Picasso’s dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler he discovered the works of avant-garde artists. With the help of Rosenberg, André Lhote continued to exhibit his works and was well received by both critics and young artists.
Many young Swedish artists travelled to Paris during the first half of the decade to study for André Lhote. The artist and collector Georg Pauli was among the first ones to arrive in Paris and together with Prins Eugen he enrolled at Lhote’s painting school. André Lhote exhibited some of his works at Salon d’Automne in Paris, and Pauli became so fond of the painting ”Port de Bordeaux” that he bought it. Wondering who the secret buyer was, André Lhote requested a meeting with Pauli after the purchase. A collegial friendship developed despite the large age difference and through Pauli’s connections, André Lhote held an exhibition at Konstföreningen in Stockholm in 1913. In 1917, André Lhote published an article in Georg Pauli’s avant garde art magazine “Flamman”, discussing the movement and his recently painted “Nature morte dans le jardin”. This painting, now included in this sale, was acquired by Georg Pauli and remained in his collection until the auction of his prominent art collection held at Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm in 1942. At the time of their passing, Georg and his wife Hanna Pauli owned the largest and most prestigious private art collection in Sweden.