Lot Essay
The present picture depicts the banks of the Seine in Nanterre, near the small town of Chatou where, between 1905 and 1907, Vlaminck painted the majority of his early and late fauve canvases. Vlaminck rarely travelled away from his countryside home in Chatou, opting instead to explore his beloved Parisian suburb. Writing of his happiness at the time, Vlaminck declared: "I am living in the midst of the countryside. What grandeur does solitude express! What sincerity it compels! Thanks to it, one understands, or rather one feels more deeply the true values, the kernel of life, inner peace. How much closer to humanity I feel in contact with a peasant, or a highway vagrant, than beside any representative of privileged class!' (Vlaminck cited in S. Whitfield, Fauvism, London, 1991, p. 115).
La Seine Nanterre illustrates, in its subject and handling, the simplicity which Vlaminck favoured in his later fauve period. He never drew or sketched, but preferred to paint directly from nature. 'Instinct is the foundation of art', he said, 'I try to paint with my heart and my guts'. (Vlaminck cited in W. Haftman, Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. I, New York, 1965, p. 73.)
La Seine Nanterre was given by Vlaminck to the father of the present owner and has remained in the same family, in the Chatou area, since it was painted.
Sold with a photo-certificate from The Wildenstein Institute confirming that this work will be included in the forthcoming Maurice de Vlaminck catalogue raisonn currently in preparation.
La Seine Nanterre illustrates, in its subject and handling, the simplicity which Vlaminck favoured in his later fauve period. He never drew or sketched, but preferred to paint directly from nature. 'Instinct is the foundation of art', he said, 'I try to paint with my heart and my guts'. (Vlaminck cited in W. Haftman, Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. I, New York, 1965, p. 73.)
La Seine Nanterre was given by Vlaminck to the father of the present owner and has remained in the same family, in the Chatou area, since it was painted.
Sold with a photo-certificate from The Wildenstein Institute confirming that this work will be included in the forthcoming Maurice de Vlaminck catalogue raisonn currently in preparation.