Kees van Dongen

Galerie Samy Chalom, Paris
Private Collection, Paris (acquired from the above on May 30, 1963)
Thence by descent

Executed on board mounted on cradled panel. The board is sound. The surface is richly textured and well preserved. Some abrasion and minor creasing along the extreme edges, notably upper left edge and center right edge. There are a few thin surface scratches to the figure's lower legs and towards the upper right edge with two small spots of paint loss visible in the proper right foot. Under UV light: some minor strokes of retouching along the perimeter and to the lower right corner. This work is in good overall condition.
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“Fauvism is eager for art to have the vital power of the female," writes Donald Kuspit. "It is this that the Fauvist images of females pursue, and that van Dongen articulates with a special vehemence. For me, his most important pictures are those of women [and] the female theme continues throughout his life” (Donald Kuspit, “Kees van Dongen: Unequivocal Colour and Equivocal Sexuality” in Kees van Dongen (exhibition catalogue), Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1989-90, pp. 37-39).

This striking reclining nude painted around 1906-07 was executed at the height of Kees van Dongen’s involvement with the Fauves. It was around this time that he moved both his studio and apartment to rue Saulnie, neighboring the famous music hall the Folies-Bergère, which he often frequented with other contemporary artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec. The world of music halls and cabarets served as a constant source of inspiration for van Dongen, whose oeuvre capitalized on the highly provocative and sultry demimondaines as well as the Bohemian courtesans that danced under lurid yellow lights. These inspirations are reflected in van Dongen’s choice of palette and composition in Nu couché aux bas rouges. Here, van Dongen redefines the classic reclining nude, giving her a contemporary appearance with the addition of fashionable attributes such as her roseleaf red stockings and expressive makeup. The figure’s black-ringed eyes accentuate her face, her gaze is steady, and bold sweeps of the artist's brush envelope her body with sensuous caresses. Nu couché aux bas rouges is a superb example of van Dongen’s rendition of the modern woman, a theme for which the artist would become renowned.