Lot 3239* - A181 Impressionist & Modern Art - Friday, 30. June 2017, 02.00 PM
MAURICE UTRILLO
(Paris 1883–1955 Dax)
Rue de Mont-Cenis, la Maison de Berlioz. Circa 1948.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower right: Maurice Utrillo V., as well as inscribed lower left: Montmartre.
46 x 55 cm.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Jean Fabris and Cédric Pailler, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, 30 August 2010.
Provenance:
- Galerie Pétrides, Paris.
- Private collection (bought 1948 from the above gallery).
- Christie's London, 28. June 1994, lot 324.
- Private collection (bought at the above auction).
Exhibition: Tokyo/Niigata/Kyoto 2010, Maurice Utrillo, Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan museum of Art/The Niigata Museum of Modern Art/Kyoto Museum and Aichi/Toyohashi City Museum of Art & History, no. 82 (with ill.).
The Rue du Mont-Cenis is one of the important streets in the Montmartre section of Paris, and the subject of some of Maurice Utrillo’s most beautiful cityscapes. He was familiar with this neighbourhood since childhood, as his mother, Suzanne Valadon, had a studio there in the Rue Cortot, which he later shared with her. With floor-to-ceiling windows admitting overhead light and opening onto a beautiful, lush garden, this studio was also employed by other artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It can still be visited today, within the Musée de Montmartre. Utrillo was about 30 years old when he met César Gay, a colourful character and owner of several cafés and restaurants, including the “Casse-Croûte” on the Rue Paul Féval, where Gay lodged and fed the young artist. It was from his bedroom window here that Utrillo enjoyed a lovely view of the Rue du Mont-Cenis, and he would continue to employ this view’s particular perspective in the years to come.
In this work, figures descend the steep street, flanked by high walls and punctuated by tall lampposts, typical for Montmartre. The season is surely spring or summer, as the trees which rise behind the walls are in full foliage. In the background is a fine view of Paris under blue skies. The house visible on the corner beyond the right-hand wall was once the residence of composer Hector Berlioz, and Georges Braque set up his studio here in 1911.
This was one of Utrillo’s favourite themes, already present in his earliest works from the “période blanche”. Similar views with this perspective can be found in the collections of major museums, such as the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris
CHF 70 000 / 90 000 | (€ 72 160 / 92 780)
Sold for CHF 104 900 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.