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Lot Essay
The year 1912 was important for Rik Wouters. In this year he came to an agreement with Georges Giroux, who had just started his gallery in Brussels. For a fixed amount of 200 Belgian francs per month Wouters provided the art dealer with works on a regular basis. This gave him the opportunity to devote himself completely to the arts. Although there were many gifted artists in the early days of the Giroux gallery, like Schirren, Paerels, Thèvenet, Lemmen and Tytgat, Rik Wouters would remain the central figure until his sudden death in 1916.
The present watercolour can be seen as a preliminary drawing for the painting 'Femme devant le rideau rouge', now in the collection of the Crèdit Communal de Belgique, Brussels. (Olivier Bertrand, Rik Wouters Les Peintures catalogue raisonnè, Antwerp 1995, p.93.no. 86). Watercolours play an important role in the philosophy of the artist; it was Wouters aim to maintain the spontaneity of a study in his artworks. The present lot clearly shows his vigorous technique, with a strong use of colour and a certainty and directness in every brushstroke. Where the oil paintings from this period are still somewhat through-composed; watercolours like these show Wouters as the virtuoso in optima forma.
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist's work on paper and sculptures, currently being prepared by the Belgian Art Research Institute.
The present watercolour can be seen as a preliminary drawing for the painting 'Femme devant le rideau rouge', now in the collection of the Crèdit Communal de Belgique, Brussels. (Olivier Bertrand, Rik Wouters Les Peintures catalogue raisonnè, Antwerp 1995, p.93.no. 86). Watercolours play an important role in the philosophy of the artist; it was Wouters aim to maintain the spontaneity of a study in his artworks. The present lot clearly shows his vigorous technique, with a strong use of colour and a certainty and directness in every brushstroke. Where the oil paintings from this period are still somewhat through-composed; watercolours like these show Wouters as the virtuoso in optima forma.
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist's work on paper and sculptures, currently being prepared by the Belgian Art Research Institute.