.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jacques Chalom des Cordes will include this work in his forthcoming Van Dongen catalogue critique being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute.
Kees van Dongen’s Le balcon forms part of a small group of works inspired by the artist’s sojourn to Seville, where he found himself during a 1910 voyage that proved to be a revelatory experience. Towards the end of 1909 Van Dongen had signed a contract with Félix Fénéon of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune following his success at the Salon d’Automne of that year. This agreement guaranteed the artist a stable income of roughly 6,000 francs per annum, granting him a new level of financial security that allowed him to spend several months travelling around Spain and Morocco. The vibrant culture he experienced on this tour sparked Van Dongen’s imagination, inspiring him to produce a string of dynamic and engaging compositions which delved into Mediterranean and North-African life, whilst the colours and bright light infused his palette with a new vitality. The works he produced during and immediately after this trip formed the foundation of two important solo-exhibitions staged in 1911 at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune – Van Dongen Hollande—Paris—Espagne—Maroc, and Oeuvres nouvelles de Van Dongen.
Le balcon is one of a number of works in which Van Dongen captures the sophisticated and refined spectators of Seville’s famous corrida de toros displays. Rather than focusing on the drama unfolding within the bullring, the artist trained his eye on the elegant crowds that frequented the events, and in particular the dark eyed beauties who watched from the balconies overlooking the action. In the present composition, two women are shown side by side, the figure on the left elegantly poised behind the balcony railings as she gazes out towards the viewer, while the other turns her back on the ring to converse with the dashing young caballero standing behind her. The artist focuses on the local costumes of these youthful members of the audience, particularly the elaborately embroidered mantilla draped over the woman’s shoulders, whose complex patterns and rich colours are captured using thick, undulating brushstrokes. These forms offer a startling contrast to the delicate rendering of the woman’s face on the left hand side of the composition, which is recorded using an intricate interplay of pure colours and fine brushwork. In many ways, Le balcon may be seen to echo Édouard Manet’s painting of the same name, painted in 1868 and on view at the Musée de Luxembourg during this period. However, in highlighting the Spanish character of the scene, Van Dongen was most likely harking back to the earlier precedent of Francisco de Goya’s Majas al balcón (c. 1810), which had also proved a source of inspiration for Manet’s composition.
Kees van Dongen’s Le balcon forms part of a small group of works inspired by the artist’s sojourn to Seville, where he found himself during a 1910 voyage that proved to be a revelatory experience. Towards the end of 1909 Van Dongen had signed a contract with Félix Fénéon of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune following his success at the Salon d’Automne of that year. This agreement guaranteed the artist a stable income of roughly 6,000 francs per annum, granting him a new level of financial security that allowed him to spend several months travelling around Spain and Morocco. The vibrant culture he experienced on this tour sparked Van Dongen’s imagination, inspiring him to produce a string of dynamic and engaging compositions which delved into Mediterranean and North-African life, whilst the colours and bright light infused his palette with a new vitality. The works he produced during and immediately after this trip formed the foundation of two important solo-exhibitions staged in 1911 at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune – Van Dongen Hollande—Paris—Espagne—Maroc, and Oeuvres nouvelles de Van Dongen.
Le balcon is one of a number of works in which Van Dongen captures the sophisticated and refined spectators of Seville’s famous corrida de toros displays. Rather than focusing on the drama unfolding within the bullring, the artist trained his eye on the elegant crowds that frequented the events, and in particular the dark eyed beauties who watched from the balconies overlooking the action. In the present composition, two women are shown side by side, the figure on the left elegantly poised behind the balcony railings as she gazes out towards the viewer, while the other turns her back on the ring to converse with the dashing young caballero standing behind her. The artist focuses on the local costumes of these youthful members of the audience, particularly the elaborately embroidered mantilla draped over the woman’s shoulders, whose complex patterns and rich colours are captured using thick, undulating brushstrokes. These forms offer a startling contrast to the delicate rendering of the woman’s face on the left hand side of the composition, which is recorded using an intricate interplay of pure colours and fine brushwork. In many ways, Le balcon may be seen to echo Édouard Manet’s painting of the same name, painted in 1868 and on view at the Musée de Luxembourg during this period. However, in highlighting the Spanish character of the scene, Van Dongen was most likely harking back to the earlier precedent of Francisco de Goya’s Majas al balcón (c. 1810), which had also proved a source of inspiration for Manet’s composition.