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Lot 3259 - A185 Impressionist & Modern Art - Friday, 29. June 2018, 04.00 PM

KEES VAN DONGEN

(Delfshaven/Rotterdam 1877 - 1968 Monte Carlo)
Portrait de femme. Circa 1913.
Oil on canvas.
65 x 55 cm.

The authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the Wildenstein-Plattner Institute, New York, 13 December 2017.

Provenance:
- Otto and Helene Welter, Waldkirch, presumably bought in the 1920s.
- Private collection, Switzerland, by descent from the above to present owners.

This work is from an important private Swiss collection of French Expressionism which dates back to the 1920s. It has remained in the same family until the present day, and is now being offered for the first time at auction.

A woman, probably watching a play or sitting in an opera box, looks down at the stage. The sitter is shown in strict side profile with her white fan and her curved hat feather creating a harmonious composition.

Van Dongen enjoyed engaging in theatre scenes, and thus two of the painter’s major works are depictions of this subject: "Modjesko" from 1908 (Museum of Modern Art, New York) and "En la Plaza, Femmes à la balustrade" from 1910-11 (L'Annonciade, Musée de Saint-Pierre).

For the family of the owner, this work also held a personal and very significant meaning, as the owner had been the director of the "Grand Casino" in Geneva, which remained the only theatre stage in the city after the fire of the Grand Théâtre.


CHF 250 000 / 350 000 | (€ 257 730 / 360 820)

Sold for CHF 240 500 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.