ÉDOUARD VUILLARD | Vue plongeante sur la colline

Arnoé Collection, Paris
Jan Krugier, Geneva
Albert Loeb & Krugier, New York (acquired in 1968)
Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York
Samuel J. Wagstaff, Jr., Detroit (acquired circa 1971)
Robert Mapplethorpe, New York (by descent from the above in 1987)
Sale: Christie's, New York, May 12, 1994, lot 143A
Private Collection, United States (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 13, 1997, lot 258)
Private Collection, New York (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 7, 2012, lot 388)
Acquired at the above sale

New York, Albert Loeb & Krugier, Les Nabis. The Last Years of the Nineteenth Century, 1969, no. 87, illustrated in the catalogue
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor & Chicago, Art Insitute of Chicago, Édouard Vuillard, 1971-72, no. 52, illustrated in the catalogue

John Russell, Édouard Vuillard, 1868-1940, London, 1971, no. 52, illustrated n.p.
Antoine Salomon & Guy Cogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, vol. II, Paris, 2003, no. VII-95, illustrated p. 588

There is some very minor frame abrasion to the extreme outer edges. The surface is covered with an uneven layer of varnish. There is a half-inch faint line of stray pigment toward top center edge that may be original to the composition. Under UV light: a few nail-head size spots of inpainting are visible including one along extreme top center edge, though the layer of varnish is difficult to read through. Overall this work is in 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.

As Antoine Salomon and Guy Cogeval write of this work, "Unlike so many of Vuillard's sketches, which verge at times on the banal, this elevated view strikes a distinctly radical note. While renewing with the painter's early Synthetist manner, it is dominated by small brushstrokes and a monochrome palette characteristic of Vuillard's work at this period" (Antoine Salomon & Guy Cogeval, op. cit., p. 588).

Vue plongeante sur la colline was previously owned by Sam Wagstaff, groundbreaking art curator and collector as well as partner and patron of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Wagstaff is famously credited not only with championing the artistic development of both Mapplethorpe and writer-musician Patti Smith, but also with transforming public perception of photography as a collecting category and medium of fine art. Indeed, with its uniquely modern perspective—a bird’s-eye view of a farmscape—as well as its sensitivity to light and shadow, the present lot underscores the evolving sensibilities in art that would become key principals of twentieth-century photography. Upon Wagstaff’s death in 1987, this work was bequeathed to Mapplethorpe.