Albert Marquet first travelled to Tunisia in 1923 with his wife Marcelle shortly after their wedding. This visit was to mark a decisive point in the artist’s career as he drew deep inspiration from the light, colours and architecture of Tunisia, in particular Carthage and Sidi-bou-Said and these settings would form the subject of numerous paintings. With its soft light and clear evocation of form, Une rue is a depiction of Sidi-bou-Said that reflects the artist’s appreciation of the region. Marquet’s works from this period were an immediate commercial success. Within the first six months of his stay here, Marquet sold thirty-six paintings to Galerie Druet and twenty to Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in addition to a series of watercolours. The present work was one of the paintings that was chosen by Galerie Druet in June 1923.

Marquet’s wife Marcelle has recalled the beginning of the couple’s life together in Tunisia and the beauty of the town in which they stayed in their first six months and which provided the inspiration for the present work: ‘In 1923 we started our life together with a six-months stay in a little Tunisian town. We lived simply, dividing our time between work and walks in one of the most beautiful spots in the world—white and blue houses, hanging from cliffs between sky and water—a place so beautiful that Marquet never wanted to return to it, saying there was nothing left to add to his impression. He preferred, a few years later, to establish himself some ten kilometers away, at La Goulette, at the entrance to the Tunis harbor, a scene less perfectly inscribed in the landscape” (Madame Albert Marquet, “Marquet the Man,” Marquet (exhibition catalogue), Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1953, p. 14). In Une rue, these distinct white and blue houses can be seen settled romantically into the cliff face above the water. The blues in the ocean complement the turquoise tones of the wooden window shutters and turreted roof gable and are further heightened by the expanse of white architecture. A singular figure in the foreground along with a ship moving through the water signify the bustling commerce of the city. Une rue is a remarkably modern composition testament to the artist’s unique vision and exemplifying the contentment Marquet was experiencing at this moment in time.