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Lot 3223 - Z41 Impressionist & Modern Art - Friday, 02. December 2016, 02.00 PM

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK

(Paris 1876 - 1958 Rueil-la-Gadelière)
Marine. Circa 1937/38.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower left: Vlaminck.
65 x 81 cm.

The authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the Wildenstein Institute, Paris, October 2016.

Provenance:
- Collection Scherz-Meister, Bern.
- Private Collection, Bern (by descent to the present owner).

Exhibitions:
- Geneva 1958, Exposition Vlaminck. Musée de l'Athénée, 17 July - 11 September (with label on the reverse).
- Bern 1961, Maurice de Vlaminck. Berner Kunstmuseum, 4 February - 3 April, no. 185 (with label on the reverse).

"Je préfère la paine à la mer, je suis plus terrien que marin. La vue de la mer me plonge dans une angoisse profonde. La mer me fait peur et devant elle je me sens faible, chétif et impuissant. Son calme perfide et hypocrite ne me trompe pas, il semble cacher la jalousie et la hostilité qu’elle me témoigne" (Vlaminck, Paysage et personnage, 1953). Although Vlaminck was very afraid of the sea and its unpredictability, he liked dealing with it as a subject of his paintings. In fact, showing the sea in its wild and frightening state even seems to have provided a special allure to the artist.
Maurice de Vlaminck is not unjustly called the "Fauve of Fauves", being the longest to follow the credo of the art group which emerged in 1905 and was only very short-lived. One can also recognise the impetuous line and vitality in his later works. He enjoyed using stormy scenes, and he was especially excited by the erupting sea caused by storm, as in this beautiful example. With great skill he manages to capture the fascinating play of light caused by the gloomy weather.
However, the present "Marine", which was shown at two important exhibitions in Geneva and Bern shortly after the death of Vlaminck, shows an ambivalent mood. In comparison with other works, the sea seems relatively calm. The ships appear to have a fairly safe course. The medium-strong waves and the gulls flying above the scenery are in a movement which indicates a storm that has either passed or is still imminent. An additionally attractive feature in this work is the light of the sun or the moon glimmering on the horizon, which appears to be intensifying and lends a positive focus to the threatening scenery.


CHF 60 000 / 90 000 | (€ 61 860 / 92 780)

Sold for CHF 138 500 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.