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L12002

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Lot 13
  • 13

Kees van Dongen

Estimate
1,200,000 - 1,800,000 GBP
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Description

  • Kees van Dongen
  • PORTRAIT D'ESPAGNOLE
  • signed van Dongen (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 66.3 by 53.8cm.
  • 26 1/8 by 21 1/8 in.

Provenance

Private Collection, Paris
Thence by descent to the present owner

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Les Fauves, 1962, no. 125 (as dating from circa 1907)
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Französische Malerei der Gegenwart, 1963, no. 84, illustrated in the catalogue (as dating from circa 1907)

Condition

The canvas is unlined. Apart from a few very minor spots of retouching on the upper framing egde, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in excellent condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although the colours are brighter and warmer in the original.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Portrait d'Espagnole was painted during a highly fruitful period in Kees van Dongen's career. After the early successes of his Fauvist paintings and his mounting international reputation, the artist signed a contract with Bernheim-Jeune which gave him the financial freedom to explore new territories both in his art and around the world. In June 1910 van Dongen travelled to Spain, visiting the city of Seville, where he revelled in the exotic contrast the culture of Spain made to Parisian life. He painted dark-eyed women with sumptuous costumes (fig. 2), and bestowed upon his work titles like 'Joaquina, Carmen and Trinidad Fernandez... [which] reflect van Dongen's interest in elaborately-decorated shawls and in dark-eyed southern women. Brilliantly, the shaped shawls show fabric and paint at the same time, with the dangling threads executed as coarse trails of paint over the lighter-coloured clothing' (Anita Hopmans in All eyes on Kees van Dongen (exhi🌳bition catalogue), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2010, p. 94).

The present work is an exquisite blend of van Dongen's vision of aesthetic beauty and his ability to capture the distinct qualities of his sitter. Her elaborate mantilla is simplified into blocks of pure, unctuous colour; the paint is applied with joyful generosity, indicative of his bravuric handling of the Fauvist idiom. Settling bursts of crimson red against the deep lace and glossy black hair gives her clothing an ornate richness which is further enhanced by his decision to create chromatic depth and patina with royal blue rather than a more traditional, illusionistic, grey scale. The gentle form of her countenance is beautifully described by taches of rose pink and a celadon green stroke applied below her lips. This expressive use of colour, which characterised his earlier Fauvist canvases, is now translated into an eloquent language perfectly suited to capturing the new world he discovered in 1910. As van Dongen himself explained: 'I love anything that glitters, precious stones that sparkle, fabrics that shimmer, beautiful women who arouse carnal desire... painting lets me possess all this most fully' (quoted in Marcel Giry, Fauvism, Frisbourg, 1981, pp. 224-6).

The intimate paintings van Dongen created in the wake of his Spanish journey are an exciting addition to his earlier, psychologically penetrating, portrayals of women. Another work from the same period as the present work, Trinidad Fernandez (fig. 3) attests to the insightful manner in which the artist painted women. The artist's experiences in Spain left an indelible mark on his œuvre, and thereafter laced mantillas and gilded shawls pervaded his paintings of the haute-monde, gracing socialites' shoulders and💧 imbuing the✃m with charm borrowed from van Dongen's memories of an Iberian south.

Fig. 1, Kees van Dongen in his studio at 6 rue Saulnier, Paris, circa 1910

Fig. 2, Kees van Dongen, Andalucia, 1910-11, oil on canvas,  Noro Foundation, Curaçao

Fig. 3, Kees van Dongen, Trinidad Fernadez, 1910, oil on canvas,  Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran