Clowns

Details

Georges Rouault (1871-1958)
Clowns
signed and dated 'G Rouault 1932' (upper right)
gouache and brush and India ink on paper
14 1/8 x 9 7/8 in. (35.8 x 25.1 cm.)
Painted in 1932

Provenance

Ambroise Vollard, Paris.
Robert de Galea, Paris.
Sam Salz, Inc., New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Nathan L. Halpern, New York (acquired from the above, October 1959).
By descent from the above to the present owners.

Literature

B. Dorival and I. Rouault, Rouault, L'oeuvre peint, Monte-Carlo, 1988, vol. II, p. 48, no. 1329 (illustrated).

Lot Essay

Rouault painted this gouache to serve as the maquette for the wood engraving that illustrates page 2 of the chapter Prélude in the book Cirque de l'étoile filante, 1938. Isabelle Rouault has noted: "Comparing [the gouaches] to the wood engravings, we can establish some modifications: thus they were slightly retouched by Rouault after the completion of the engravings" (op. cit., p. 41). The artist painted this gouache on the reverse of a proof for the cover of his previous book about the circus, Cirque, 1930.

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