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Lot Essay
Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
In February 1899, Matisse and his new bride Amélie returned to Paris having spent a year traveling to London, Corsica and Toulouse. They took an apartment in the same building as Matisse's closest friend Albert Marquet, at 19 Quai St. Michel, where they lived until 1907. Alfred H. Barr describes the stunning views from Matisse's apartment: "From the window of his apartment of the Quai St. Michel, Matisse could look east along the Seine to the Cathedral of Notre Dame on the opposite bank; and to the west, he could see the busy Pont St. Michel and beyond it the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité with the pavilions of the Louvre in the distance. He painted these two vistas many times in the five years between 1899 and 1904" (in Matisse, His Art and His Public, New York, 1966, p. 69). The present work shows his view to the west, centered by the prominent arches of the Pont Saint-Michel with the tranquil course of the River Seine leading the eye toward the Louvre in the far distance at the horizon line.
Imbued with flat areas of vibrant colors, Vue de la Seine, le Pont Saint-Michel foreshadows Matisse's Fauve period and is an early indication of his status as the foremost colorist of the 20th century. Although the term "Fauvism" was not coined until 1905, fellow painter André Derain later claimed "From around 1900 a kind of fauvism held sway," while Marquet similarly dated its beginnings "as early as 1898 [when] Matisse and I were working in what was later called the fauve manner. The first showing of the Indépendants in which, I believe, we were the only painters to express ourselves in pure colours, took place in 1901" (quoted in J. Elderfield, The 'Wild Beasts' Fauvism and its Affinities, New York, 1976, p. 18).
Painted early on in his career, Vue de la Seine, le Pont Saint-Michel epitomizes Matisse's vital transition from painting in the Neo-Impressionist style toward Fauvism. The deliberate contrast between the brilliant colors, the tonal uniformity and lack of modulation in the color planes, and the architecture broken down into nearly abstract, geometric forms all hint at Matisse's later revolutionary flattening of the picture plane and firmly establish his unrivaled mastery of color.
(fig. 1) View from Matisse's studio at 19, Quai Pont St-Michel.
In February 1899, Matisse and his new bride Amélie returned to Paris having spent a year traveling to London, Corsica and Toulouse. They took an apartment in the same building as Matisse's closest friend Albert Marquet, at 19 Quai St. Michel, where they lived until 1907. Alfred H. Barr describes the stunning views from Matisse's apartment: "From the window of his apartment of the Quai St. Michel, Matisse could look east along the Seine to the Cathedral of Notre Dame on the opposite bank; and to the west, he could see the busy Pont St. Michel and beyond it the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité with the pavilions of the Louvre in the distance. He painted these two vistas many times in the five years between 1899 and 1904" (in Matisse, His Art and His Public, New York, 1966, p. 69). The present work shows his view to the west, centered by the prominent arches of the Pont Saint-Michel with the tranquil course of the River Seine leading the eye toward the Louvre in the far distance at the horizon line.
Imbued with flat areas of vibrant colors, Vue de la Seine, le Pont Saint-Michel foreshadows Matisse's Fauve period and is an early indication of his status as the foremost colorist of the 20th century. Although the term "Fauvism" was not coined until 1905, fellow painter André Derain later claimed "From around 1900 a kind of fauvism held sway," while Marquet similarly dated its beginnings "as early as 1898 [when] Matisse and I were working in what was later called the fauve manner. The first showing of the Indépendants in which, I believe, we were the only painters to express ourselves in pure colours, took place in 1901" (quoted in J. Elderfield, The 'Wild Beasts' Fauvism and its Affinities, New York, 1976, p. 18).
Painted early on in his career, Vue de la Seine, le Pont Saint-Michel epitomizes Matisse's vital transition from painting in the Neo-Impressionist style toward Fauvism. The deliberate contrast between the brilliant colors, the tonal uniformity and lack of modulation in the color planes, and the architecture broken down into nearly abstract, geometric forms all hint at Matisse's later revolutionary flattening of the picture plane and firmly establish his unrivaled mastery of color.
(fig. 1) View from Matisse's studio at 19, Quai Pont St-Michel.