Maurice de Vlaminck

Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquis de l'artiste)
Collection particulière, Europe

Institut Wildenstein & Maïthé Vallès-Bled, Maurice de Vlaminck, Catalogue critique des peintures et céramiques de la période fauve, Paris, 2008, no. 4, reproduit p. 61 

The canvas is not lined. There is some generalised craquelure, located mostly in the sky, with associated lines of retouching visible under UV light, as well as three nailhead-sized retouchings. This work is in stable condition.
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signed 'Vlaminck' (lower left); titled 'Nanterre, Les Champs' (on a label on the back), oil on canvas. Painted circa 1901-02.

Fig. 1  Maurice de Vlaminck, Maison aux volets bleus, 1904, huile sur toile, Collection particulière

Autour de 1901, sur les pas des impressionnistes, Vlaminck se déplace peindre en plein air dans les environs de Paris. Au contact de Derain, le jeune artiste expérimente un style plus fluide, d'une incontestable fraîcheur. Commentant cette œuvre, Maïthé Vallès-Bled  souligne que : " Dans ce paysage de jeunesse ayant appartenu à la collection Vollard, [...] une indéniable recherche d'équilibre articule les trois plans de la composition, dominée en son centre par un alignement de bâtiments sur lesquels se concentrent les effets colorés. Aux harmonies des verts et des bleus qui occupent la plus grande part de la surface du tableau répondent les orangés des bâtiments, que font vibrer des blancs délicatement dispensés" (Maïthé Vallès-Bled, Maurice de Vlaminck, Catalogue critique des peintures et céramiques de la période fauve, op. cit., p. 60). La facture spontanée, les formes simplifiées et l'immédiateté de la touche qui caractérisent cette représentation des champs de Nanterre laissent déjà préfigurer la révolution fauve à venir.

 

Around 1901, following in the footsteps of the Impressionists, Vlaminck began to travel to the outskirts of Paris to paint in the open air.  Along with Derain, the young artist experimented with a more fluid, indisputably fresh style.  As Maïthé Vallès-Bled emphasises, "In this youthful landscape that was once part of the Vollard collection, [...] he has clearly attempted to create a sense of balance in the three planes of the composition, which is dominated at its centre by a row of house on which the colour effects are focused.  The harmony created by the greens and blues that fill most of the surface of the painting is balanced by the oranges of the buildings, which respond vibrantly to the delicately distributed whites " (Maïthé Vallès-Bled, Maurice de Vlaminck, Catalogue critique des peintures et céramiques de la période fauve, op. cit., p. 60).  The spontaneous composition, simplified forms and immediacy of touch that characterise this depiction of the fields of Nanterre foreshadow the Fauvist revolution that would come.