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Lot Essay
In June 1914, Marquet travelled to Rotterdam. 'Son premier soin, en arrivant dans une ville où il se propose de travailler, est de trouver une fenêtre devant laquelle il pourra installer son chevalet' (F. Jourdain, Marquet, Paris, 1959, p. 77). Le port de Rotterdam, as well as another work from the series (Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne), are painted from a similarly high vantage point looking out over the port.
Discreet and timid by nature, Marquet liked to observe the bustle of life without being seen. This calls to mind Marquet's ambition, when he was beginning his career in Paris with Matisse, to set himself up as a cabdriver, 'perched high up under cover with a fine view, regular sums coming in and plenty of time for drawing between customers' (see H. Spurling, The Unknown Matisse, London, 1998, p. 198).
Discreet and timid by nature, Marquet liked to observe the bustle of life without being seen. This calls to mind Marquet's ambition, when he was beginning his career in Paris with Matisse, to set himself up as a cabdriver, 'perched high up under cover with a fine view, regular sums coming in and plenty of time for drawing between customers' (see H. Spurling, The Unknown Matisse, London, 1998, p. 198).