Roger de la Fresnaye (1885-1925)

Le matador

Details

Roger de la Fresnaye (1885-1925)
Le matador
signed and dated 'R de la Fresnaye 1913' (lower right)
gouache on paper
9½ x 7 1/8 in. (24 x 18 cm.)
Painted in 1913

Provenance

Saidenberg Gallery, New York.
Stanley N. Barbee, Beverly Hills; sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, 11 November 1959, lot 14.
Ralph I. Goldenberg, Chicago.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1976.

Literature

G. Seligman, Roger de la Fresnaye with a Catalogue Raisonné, London, 1969, p. 176, no. 201 (illustrated).

Lot Essay

Seligman noted that De La Fresnaye was partial to depicting figures seen from behind, for the reason that this aspect seemed anonymous and enigmatic, and allowed him to concentrate on the geometric character of the figure. The origin of the title is unknown; in a related study (Seligman, no. 200; formerly in the collection of Jean Cocteau), the costume more clearly resembles the breeches and knee socks of a country gentleman, who is seen standing in a landscape.

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