Georges Rouault

J. Alden Carpenter, Chicago
Joseph Brummer, New York
Walter Bareiss, New York
Basil P. Goulandris, New York
Theodore Cummings, Los Angeles

London, Marlborough Fine Arts, 19th and 20th Century European Masters, 1959, no. 63, illustrated in the catalogue

Bernard Dorival & Isabelle Rouault, Rouault, L'Oeuvre peint, vol. I, Monaco, 1988, no. 331, illustrated p. 97

Good condition. Surface is dirty. Several older repairs have discolored somewhat and are visible to the naked eye. Under UV light, these are visible: three strokes 4 inches to right of face, a thin line in upper part of her hair, a line to cover scrape about 3 inches long near left center edge. A few dots near her chin to cover specks of paint loss. Another line two inches long at upper left edge. There is an L-shaped in blue pigment near her below. Colors: Appears much brighter and lighter overall than catalogue illustration.
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.

Executed in 1909, Femme accoudée à la fleur blanche belongs to a group of works where Rouault depicted prostitutes, circus performers, lawyers and other members of society. Unlike Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec, who portrayed these individuals with pathos, Rouault's approach was much more unapologetic and raw. Although Rouault was not a formal member of the Fauve movement, he did embrace its primary tenet of the incorporation of an exaggerated palette. The present work, painted in vivid hues of red, green and blue, is a colorful example of Rouault's preoccupation with depicting prostitues. The sitter, whose figure is delineated by confident undulating lines, is shown at rest, primping her hair. The green background is the device which complements the bright red sofa back as the azure highlights denote her breasts, arms and face.

Lionello Venturi writes, "Let us turn to the Prostitutes...  Effects of light and shade are here projected into the foreground, so as to emphasize the vehement handling of the nude bodies and to lessen their plastic density. There is no attenuation of his statirical aggressiveness, but the happy complexity of Rouault's style transforms it into pure art. Rouault had still another means of transcending the satirical, and that was to represent the female nude without castigating it, to represent it feelingly in all its natural beauty" (Lionello Venturi, Rouault, Paris, 1959, p. 56).

Fig. 1  Georges Rouault, Filles, 1910, watercolor, ink and oil on paper, The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg