Auguste Herbin

Geneviève Claisse, Herbin, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, 1993, Lausanne, no. 119 , illustrated p. 300

Herbin was invited to exhibit at the Salon des Indépendants for the first time in 1906, where his eight paintings hung beside those of many Fauve artists such as Matisse, Dufy, Braque and Vlaminck.  During the next two years, Herbin embraced Fauvism completely.  In the Salon des Indépendants of 1907 and the Salon d'Automne of the same year Herbin first exhibited a large body of his Fauve work.  

In 1907, the art dealer and collector Wilhelm Uhde invited Herbin to spend some time on the island of Corsica.  Perhaps inspired by the works exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants of 1906 by Camoin of Corsica, Herbin agreed to go.  The present work is one of approximately fifteen that Herbin painted during this sojourn. Building on the inspiration of Fauve contemporaries and their depictions of the Mediterranean landscapes of Coilloure, La Ciotat and St. Tropez, Herbin painted the present work with vibrant color and vigorous brushstrokes.  The result is a spectacular composition, encapsulating the sun drenched brilliance of the Mediterranean landscape.