.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The Wildenstein Institute will include this painting in their forthcoming Marquet catalogue raisonné.
Marquet traveled extensively and his trips are well documented in his paintings, but there was no city for him quite like Paris. Unquestionably the dominant artistic center in the early 20th century, the city's excitement is made palpable in views such as that in the present work. Marquet first arrived in Paris as a young art student and early on he befriended Matisse, who was to have a profound influence on his work. In 1907 he had his first one man show at Galerie Druet and from then on he was a regular figure in the artistic circles of the city. The differing vistas of the city provided Marquet with ample subjects and the present picture was painted from a window of the appartment of his friend and fellow painter Jean Launois. In it, he contrasts the transient movement of the modern city with the timelessness of one of its greatest architectural monuments, Notre Dame. The brilliant light, verdant trees and bright blue sky suggest that the scene was painted in the summer, and the loosely spontaneous handling of the brushwork underscores the immediacy of the moment.
Marquet traveled extensively and his trips are well documented in his paintings, but there was no city for him quite like Paris. Unquestionably the dominant artistic center in the early 20th century, the city's excitement is made palpable in views such as that in the present work. Marquet first arrived in Paris as a young art student and early on he befriended Matisse, who was to have a profound influence on his work. In 1907 he had his first one man show at Galerie Druet and from then on he was a regular figure in the artistic circles of the city. The differing vistas of the city provided Marquet with ample subjects and the present picture was painted from a window of the appartment of his friend and fellow painter Jean Launois. In it, he contrasts the transient movement of the modern city with the timelessness of one of its greatest architectural monuments, Notre Dame. The brilliant light, verdant trees and bright blue sky suggest that the scene was painted in the summer, and the loosely spontaneous handling of the brushwork underscores the immediacy of the moment.