Mr. & Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller, New York
Private Collection, New York
Galerie Hopkins Custot, Paris
Acquired from the above in 2005

Pierre Courthion, Georges Rouault, New York, 1962, illustrated p. 339 (titled Maternity, Faubourg of Toil and Suffering)
Bernard Dorival & Isabelle Rouault, Rouault, L'Oeuvre peint, vol. II, Monte Carlo, 1988, no. 1616, illustrated p. 101

Executed on paper mounted on canvas laid down on cradled panel. The panel is sound. The surface is richly textured and impasto has been well preserved. There are a few minor surface scratches and a few minor spots of stable craquelure are faintly visible. Under UV light certain original pigments fluoresce and a few minor spots of possible inpainting are visible. Otherwise fine. This work is in overall very good condition.
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.

The works of Parisien-born artist Georges Rouault continually evoke scenes of earthly suffering. Vieux Faubourg, depicts a family embracing in the foreground while a small gathering stands mournfully in the background, barely illuminated by the pallid moon. Soby shrewdly observed that Rouault strove for his painting to resemble a seat of moral judgment, in opposition to the likes of Henri Matisse whose peaceful wish was that his art evoke "the same sensation as a good armchair’"(James Thrall Soby, Georges Rouault, Paintings and Prints, New York, 1947, p. 5).

Goerges Rouault became devoutly religious in his early twenties, following a serious illness. His subjects range from figures of saintly devotion to prostitutes and the destitute, compositions linked by the artist’s vision of suffering and possibility of redemption. While appreciated and much revered within his own lifetime, Rouault has experienced something of a renaissance in recent times: Robert Speaight suggests that his pictures seem to have been reserved "for a generation that is capable of a tragic vision" (Robert Speaight, "Homage to Rouault" in The Dublin Review, vol. 209, July 1941, p. 60).

The artist’s later works come to resemble stained glass in their simplicity of form and blocks of rich color. Relating to his early career assisting in the fabrication and restoration of stained glass, Rouault appears to find an extra mode of expression in the pared down forms and two-dimensionali💝ty conjured by the medium. Around the year the present work was painted, Rouault was commissioned to make the stained-glass windows for the Église Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce du Plateau d'Assy in France.

Vieux Faubourg was formerly in the collection of the late former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and his wife. The Rockefellers contributed enormously to the public arts, promoting free access and education. Their significant art collection continues to be distributed worldwide, in museums as well as d🐬istinguished private collections.