Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired from the artist in 1917)
Galerie Vildrac, Paris (acquired from the above in 1918)
Henning Gran, Oslo
Sale: Palais Galliéra, Paris, November 26, 1970 
Sale: Christie's, New York, November 10, 1987, lot 38
Sale: Christie's, London, June 27, 1988, lot 26
Private Collection, New York

Guy-Patrice & Michael Dauberville, Matisse, vol. l, Paris, 1995, no. 203, illustrated p. 617
Jack Flam, Matisse: The Man and His Art, 1869-1918, Ithaca, 1986, no. 481, illustrated p. 469

Excellent condition. Original canvas. Under UV light, bluish white pigment at lower right flouresces but appears to be original. Colors: Contrast is richer in the original. Otherwise colors are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Executed in 1917, Pont de Sevres, la plante is one of a series of works Matisse painted looking through the window of his automobile. Jack Flam writes, "Matisse was becoming increasingly interested in ways of seeing banal things freshly, without imposing an overtly abstract rhetoric on them.  This search for a more naturalistic means of expression can be seen in the extraordinary series of windshield views he produced at this time... Here, as in his window and goldfish paintings, he conceives of the world as inseparable from his vantage point... In The Pont de Sevres, with Plane Trees, the rest of the automobile is not depicted, so that the cut in the upper windshield introduces a disruptive abstract element into the composition... These landscapes must be seen as experiments not only in styles but in the kinds of reactions that one can have to a place or motif" (Matisse: The Man and His Art, 1869-1918, Ithaca, 1986, pp. 460-61).

Fiꦦg. 1 Matisse painitng a view through a windshield.