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Lot Essay
"We were at the time like children in the face of nature and we let our temperaments speak..."
(Henri Matisse, quoted in G. Diehl, Henri Matisse, 1954, p. 32).
Matisse painted the present composition at Collioure in the summer of 1905, taking the subject directly from the view of his apartment window (fig. 1). It was there in the course of the summer that Matisse, together with Derain, broke free from the model of Neo-Impressionism and devised a new aesthetic in painting using saturated and unmodulated pigments. The new style resulted in extremely bold and vivid images as in the present work. Denys Sutton wrote about this moment in the history of modern art :
In the Spring of that year, Derain joined the Matisses, who were installed in the charming village of Collioure on the west coast of France. They were together then at the crucial moment when Fauvism flowered and when Matisse, having digested the lessons learnt from Cross and Signac, achieved the lyrical, translucent and winning style so typically represented by the Landscape at Collioure (Statens Museum, Copenhagen) and The open window. ). He went all out for color gay, light and decorative and this was used to translate his sensations into vibrant canvases and to evoke the Bonheur de vivre celebrated in his impressive canvas of 1906. (D. Sutton, André Derain, London, 1959, p. 15).
The present composition, and other works which he executed during the summer months in Collioure, represented a revolution in his artistic development, some of which were boldly exhibited in the now acclaimed Fauve show at the Salon d'automne in Paris of that year.
The towns portrayed by Matisse and Derain were still sleepy fishing ports rather than the chic international resorts of Saint-Tropez and Collioure today. The boldness of Matisse's use of brushstroke during his stay at Collioure is further evident when comparing the present picture with a pen and ink drawing of the harbor at Collioure, also executed by Matisse at the same time and from the same viewpoint (fig. 2). The drawing clearly outlines the position of the church with its adjacent houses in relation to the harbor and the sea, which Matisse deliberately ignored when using his brushes.
Vue de Collioure avec l'église has always been considered one of a group of important early experimental Fauve paintings by the artist as reflected by its impressive exhibition history and its provenance. Matisse gifted the painting to the American photographer Edward Steichen, who included it in the 1908 Photo-Secessionist show that he organized in New York. Vue de Collioure avec l'église, inherited by Steichen's daughter, was then given on loan to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where it was exhibited from 1974 to 1980.
(Henri Matisse, quoted in G. Diehl, Henri Matisse, 1954, p. 32).
Matisse painted the present composition at Collioure in the summer of 1905, taking the subject directly from the view of his apartment window (fig. 1). It was there in the course of the summer that Matisse, together with Derain, broke free from the model of Neo-Impressionism and devised a new aesthetic in painting using saturated and unmodulated pigments. The new style resulted in extremely bold and vivid images as in the present work. Denys Sutton wrote about this moment in the history of modern art :
In the Spring of that year, Derain joined the Matisses, who were installed in the charming village of Collioure on the west coast of France. They were together then at the crucial moment when Fauvism flowered and when Matisse, having digested the lessons learnt from Cross and Signac, achieved the lyrical, translucent and winning style so typically represented by the Landscape at Collioure (Statens Museum, Copenhagen) and The open window. ). He went all out for color gay, light and decorative and this was used to translate his sensations into vibrant canvases and to evoke the Bonheur de vivre celebrated in his impressive canvas of 1906. (D. Sutton, André Derain, London, 1959, p. 15).
The present composition, and other works which he executed during the summer months in Collioure, represented a revolution in his artistic development, some of which were boldly exhibited in the now acclaimed Fauve show at the Salon d'automne in Paris of that year.
The towns portrayed by Matisse and Derain were still sleepy fishing ports rather than the chic international resorts of Saint-Tropez and Collioure today. The boldness of Matisse's use of brushstroke during his stay at Collioure is further evident when comparing the present picture with a pen and ink drawing of the harbor at Collioure, also executed by Matisse at the same time and from the same viewpoint (fig. 2). The drawing clearly outlines the position of the church with its adjacent houses in relation to the harbor and the sea, which Matisse deliberately ignored when using his brushes.
Vue de Collioure avec l'église has always been considered one of a group of important early experimental Fauve paintings by the artist as reflected by its impressive exhibition history and its provenance. Matisse gifted the painting to the American photographer Edward Steichen, who included it in the 1908 Photo-Secessionist show that he organized in New York. Vue de Collioure avec l'église, inherited by Steichen's daughter, was then given on loan to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where it was exhibited from 1974 to 1980.