Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquis de l'artiste)
Collection particulière, Europe

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down. The sheet is taped to the overmount along the edges. The sheet is in excellent condiiton, and the colours are fresh and well-preserved. Apart from some very light time-staining, this work is in excellent condition. Colours: The catalogue is fairly accurate, but the colours are fresher and brighter in the original, especially the blues.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

stamped 'Derain' (lower right), watercolour on paper. Executed in 1906.

Fig. 1  André Derain, La Danse, circa 1906, huile e꧙t détrempe sur toile, Fo🔯ndation Fridart, Londres

Dans cette aquarelle d'une palette fauve des plus remarquables, Derain immortalise la féérie d'une danse à la tombée de la nuit. A l'orée d'un bois, des silhouettes bleutées se laissent envahir par l'atmosphère suave et légère d'une soirée voluptueuse. Dans un authentique style fauve, les couleurs vives et les contrastes audacieux, probablement inspirés des compositions de Gauguin à Tahiti, animent cette composition au rythme endiablé. Au loin se devine un champ d'un jaune éclatant. Des couples dénudés dansent fiévreusement, enlacés dans l'obscurité. La nudité de ces créatures n'est pas sans rappeler les figures qui peuplent la forêt de Brocéliande dans la Danse de Derain de la Collection Fridart (Fig. 1). Commentant les œuvres de cette série, Claudine Grammont et Véronique Serrano soulignent ainsi : "La Danse (Fondation Fridart), comme les nombreuses aquarelles qui s'y rapportent [...], sont peuplés de ces « troupes biscornues », habitants de la forêt de Brocéliande, créatures hybrides, nymphes, satyres..." (Claudine Grammont et Véronique Serrano, in Le Dessin fauve 1900-1908 (catalogue d'exposi𒆙tion), Musée Cantini, Marseille, 2002, p. 45).

La danse est un thème récurrent dans la peinture des XIXème et XXème siècles. On le retrouve ainsi dans L'Age d'Or d'Ingres (1862,  Fogg Art Museum, Harvard), dans le tableau homonyme de Derain ou encore dans Le Bonheur de Vivre de Matisse (1905, The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvanie) sans oublier La Danse II (1909-10, Musée de l'Ermitage, Saint-Pétersbourg ) que ce dernier réalisera quelques décennies plus tard. De telles compositions enchanteresses associent l'exubérance joyeuse de la danse à la liberté d'une nouvelle palette aux🔴 accords colorés des plus allègres que des artistes comme Derain, Vlaminck, Matisse et d'autres se sont risqués à employer à l'aube du XXème siècle.  

 

In this watercolour with a remarkably Fauvist palette, Derain immortalises the magic of a dance at nightfall.  At the edge of a wood, bluish silhouettes give in to the exquisite, sensual atmosphere of a balmy summer evening. In an authentically Fauve style, the bright colours and bold contrasts, probably inspired by Gauguin's Tahiti works, enliven this composition with a furious rhythm. In the distance we can make out a shining yellow field.  Naked couples are engaged in a feverish dance, their bodies entwined in the darkness.  Their nudity brings to mind the figures inhabiting the forest of Brocéliande in La Danse by Derain in the Fridart Collection. (fig. 1).  Commenting on the works from this series, Claudine Grammont and Véronique Serrano remark that "The Dance (from the Fridart Collection), like the many related watercolours [...], are inhabited by this "motley crew", natives of the forest of Brocéliande, hybrid creatures, nymphs, satyrs..." (Claudine Grammont and Véronique Serrano, in Le Dessin fauve 1900-1908 (exhibit♋ion catalogue), Musée Cant🦄ini, Marseille, 2002, p. 45).

 

Dance is a recurring theme in nineteenth and twentieth-century painting.  We find it in Ingres' L'Age d'Or (Fogg Art Museum, Harvard), in the painting of the same name by Derain and in the Le Bonheur de Vivre by Matisse (1905, The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania) not to mention La Danse ((1909-10, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg ) which Matisse painted a few years later.  These enchanting compositions associate the joyous exuberance of dancing wit🥂h the freedom of a new palette with increasingly buoyant colour combi💯nations that artists such as Derain, Vlaminck, Matisse and others dared to explore at the dawn of the twentieth century.