Lot Essay
Between 1906 and 1907, Herbin completely embraced Fauvism. In March 1907 he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants alongside Derain, Vlaminck and Braque. (At this exhibition Wilhelm Uhde purchased five Fauve landscapes by Braque.) In October of 1907 Herbin exhibited further Fauve works at the Fifth Salon d'Automne at the Grand Palais.
At the invitation of Wilhelm Uhde, Herbin spent the spring of 1907 on the island of Corsica. The present painting comes from a series of some fifteen works which Herbin executed during this Mediterrenean sojourn of the quais, ports, sunny streets and surrounding countryside (G. Claisse, Herbin, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1993, nos. 104-119).
"Si les années 1904-5 ont vu Herbin porté vers les natures mortes et les fleurs, 1906 et 1907 le voient se tourner plûtot vers le paysage. Les deux versions du Quai de la poterie à Bruges (1906, Claisse no.s 74 and 76), de même que plusieurs toiles peintes en Corse (où il séjourne en 1907 chez l'un des grands connaisseurs de l'art moderne, Wilhelm Uhde)...[dont] les sages maisons alignées au bord de l'eau voient leurs reflets brutalement déchiquetés, les bois et collines corses déboulent parfois sur la toile dans une confusion joyeuse dont Herbin sera peu prolixe" (S. Fauchereau, 'Herbin du divisionnisme au tondo abstrait', exh. cat., Herbin, Céret/Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1994, p. 16).
With its vibrant colours and vigorous brushwork, Les Quais du Port de Bastia typifies Herbin's Corsica series, inspired by the high-key Fauve scenes which artists like Derain, Matisse and Braque had been painting in Collioure, Saint Tropez, La Ciotat and L'Estaque. The present painting is a dazzling mosaic of colour, "instinctive and decorative...elegant, allusive, paradoxical and sun-drenched", as the critic Denys Sutton described the art of the Fauves (D. Sutton, André Derain, London, 1959, p. 20). Posing a sharp contrast to the relatively sober, restrained scenes of Lille and Paris which Herbin executed in the first few years of the century, the luminous Les Quais du Port de Bastia reveals the inspiration the artist found in the brilliant Southern light of Corsica.
The present work is closely related to another painting of the same title (C. 114) of 1907 in which Herbin depicted another stretch of the waterfront. He was so taken with the reflection of the brightly painted waterfront buildings in the sea that he chose to paint them on several occasions, as can be seen in works such as Vue du Port de Bastia (C. 110), Vue d'un Port Corse I (C. 112) and Le Port de Bastia (C. 111).
Sold with a photo-certificate from Géneviève Claisse dated Paris le 3 sept 1996.
At the invitation of Wilhelm Uhde, Herbin spent the spring of 1907 on the island of Corsica. The present painting comes from a series of some fifteen works which Herbin executed during this Mediterrenean sojourn of the quais, ports, sunny streets and surrounding countryside (G. Claisse, Herbin, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1993, nos. 104-119).
"Si les années 1904-5 ont vu Herbin porté vers les natures mortes et les fleurs, 1906 et 1907 le voient se tourner plûtot vers le paysage. Les deux versions du Quai de la poterie à Bruges (1906, Claisse no.s 74 and 76), de même que plusieurs toiles peintes en Corse (où il séjourne en 1907 chez l'un des grands connaisseurs de l'art moderne, Wilhelm Uhde)...[dont] les sages maisons alignées au bord de l'eau voient leurs reflets brutalement déchiquetés, les bois et collines corses déboulent parfois sur la toile dans une confusion joyeuse dont Herbin sera peu prolixe" (S. Fauchereau, 'Herbin du divisionnisme au tondo abstrait', exh. cat., Herbin, Céret/Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1994, p. 16).
With its vibrant colours and vigorous brushwork, Les Quais du Port de Bastia typifies Herbin's Corsica series, inspired by the high-key Fauve scenes which artists like Derain, Matisse and Braque had been painting in Collioure, Saint Tropez, La Ciotat and L'Estaque. The present painting is a dazzling mosaic of colour, "instinctive and decorative...elegant, allusive, paradoxical and sun-drenched", as the critic Denys Sutton described the art of the Fauves (D. Sutton, André Derain, London, 1959, p. 20). Posing a sharp contrast to the relatively sober, restrained scenes of Lille and Paris which Herbin executed in the first few years of the century, the luminous Les Quais du Port de Bastia reveals the inspiration the artist found in the brilliant Southern light of Corsica.
The present work is closely related to another painting of the same title (C. 114) of 1907 in which Herbin depicted another stretch of the waterfront. He was so taken with the reflection of the brightly painted waterfront buildings in the sea that he chose to paint them on several occasions, as can be seen in works such as Vue du Port de Bastia (C. 110), Vue d'un Port Corse I (C. 112) and Le Port de Bastia (C. 111).
Sold with a photo-certificate from Géneviève Claisse dated Paris le 3 sept 1996.