Galerie Schmit, Paris
Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., London
Sale: Sotheby's, London, December 10, 1969, lot 71
Private Collection (acquired at the above sale and sold: Christie's, London, June 27, 2000, lot 272)
Sale: Tajan, Paris, December 19, 2001, lot 48
Acquired at the above sale by present owner

Paris, Galerie Schmit, Marquet, 1967, no. 82

Sotheby’s is delighted to a selection of Impressionist and Modern works from the Collection of Chantal and Guy Heytens. From an early age the Belgian collector Guy Heytens has been passionate about fine art. He remembers touring Europe as a young chorister for the prominent Père Jesuits of Brussels, an experience that enabled him to explore the collections in many leading museums and acquire a broad taste and inquiring eye.

Chantal and Guy Heytens have dedicated most of their working lives to the development of “co-ordinated decoration products”. In 1975, they set up what was to become a multi-national group of interior design outlets, enabling them to successfully design, edit and distribute much of their own work. This professional opportunity led them to develop a profound sense for color and the harmony of forms, a skill further acquired through their many, successful collaborations with a range of artists and designers.

During the course of their business, Chantal and Guy Heytens needed to travel frequently, allowing them to also visit museums, exhibitions, auction houses and galleries. This passion would eventually drive them closer and closer towards the art world, as they gradually built up their collection, part of which is presented here. Other works will be presented in Sotheby’s sale of Latin American Art in New York on May 31, 2007, as well as a selection of Belgian Surrealist works in Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in Paris on July 3, 2007.


Note for Marquet

In 1936, the year the present work was painted; Marquet spent the summer in Venice with his family. Marcelle Marquet, the artist's wife, recalled her husbands working methods during their stay describing how Marquet "travaillait tôt le matin, souvent au lever du soleil et dans les fins d'après midi, à l'heure ou la lumière fléchit" ("Worked early in the morning often at sunrise and towards the end of the day, at the times when the light softens") and in order to escape both the tourists and the intense summer heat (Marcelle Marquet, Venise, Paris, 195🌱3, p.9). These Venetian views, in which Marquet successfully places himself in the great tradition of Canaletto, Guardi, Turner and Monet, are amongst the most eloquent of Marquet's mature works combining several of his preoccupations - the sea, boats and magnificent architecture - all within a single, highly finished composition.