M Cointreau, Paris
Private Collection, France
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Paris vu par les maîtres de Corot à Utrillo, 1961, no. 28

Maurice Lafaille, Raoul Dufy, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint de 1895 à 1915, vol. I, Geneva, 1972, no. 82, illustrated p. 77

The canvas is not lined. UV examination reveals a few fine lines of retouching, relating to fine and stable craquelure towards the upper left corner, some spots of retouching to the left corner, centre of the upper edge and right corner. Some very fine and stable craquelure visible to the thick white pigment along the upper edge. No traces of restoration are visible on the verso. This work is in overall 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.

Raoul Dufy’s masterful use of line and color are displayed in full force in Le Marché aux pommes, a delightful record of early twentieth-century life in France. Whilst still Impressionist in style, the work hints toward the distinctive Fauve style the artist would soon adopt. As recounted by Bryan Robertson: “Dufy’s characteristic use of a compact, tersely eloquent calligraphy and pure, clean, unfussed, fast-flowing line is perhaps the most radical extension in the first half of the twentieth century of Van Gogh’s passionately forceful and explosive handling of line and color in his own later paintings, and particularly in the drawings made with a reed pen” (quoted in Raoul Dufy (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, London, 1983, p. 18).