Lot Essay
The present painting is one of three works commissioned by Dr. G.F. Reber for the dining room of the Chteau de Bthusy in Lausanne where he lived from 1919. Dr. Reber had already formed a major collection of French nineteenth century art, including at least twenty-seven works by Czanne, before 1914. After 1921 he began to exchange this material for Cubist and later works by Picasso, Gris, Braque and Lger. At one time he owned no less than 70 works by Picasso and 80 by Juan Gris. Although Lger was not represented in such great depth, Dr. Reber recognized Lger's talent for murals and large-scale decorative ensembles and commissioned him to paint three major murals for his dining room--Composition I (Les muses de gastronomie et musique; Galerie Beyeler, Basel); Composition II and Composition III.