Lot 41
  • 41

Georges de Feure

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Georges de Feure
  • le fruit defendu
  • signed and dated van Féure Bruges 95 lower centre
  • gouache on paper laid onto canvas
  • 72.5 by 59cm., 28½ by 22¾in.

Provenance

Purchased by the present owner in 2001

Exhibited

Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, Musée départemental Maurice Denis, Georges de Feure, 1995

Literature

Ian Millman, George de Feure, Mâitre du Symbolisme et de l'Art Nouveau, Paris, 1992, p. 89, catalogued & discussed; p. 88, illustrated

Condition

This condition report has been provided by Jane McAusland FIIC, Conservator and Restorer of Art on Paper, Nether Hall Barn, Old Newton, Nr Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14. Support The artist has laid a sheet of paper on canvas on a stretcher to support this watercolour. The corners are slightly wrinkling from being stretched and in these areas are some small surface and edge losses to the paper. A pinhole is at the right-hand top corner. Medium There is some fading to the pigments being visible against the darker colours at the edges in places, after being covered by a mount or moulding. Where the paper has been damaged at the corners there is some surface loss to the pigment. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions. JANE McAUSLAND
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Among the rare works created by de Feure during his sojourns in Bruges, this work is one of the most unusual for its symbolism and modernism. In the foreground, partially obscured by a floral border, a nude woman, Eve-like, holds the gaze of the spectator and proffers a peach she has already bitten. This fruit and its rich juice evoke the biblical temptation in Paradise, and mankind's ensuing fall from grace.

In the background, in the town streets moves a procession of nude women, dancing, applauding and caressing each other. Some wear black stockings while others brandish smoking amphoras above their heads. In front of them, a group of civil and religious dignitaries wave flags and an incense burner. An old bearded man and two naked boys with linked arms form the vanguard of the extraordinary march.

In creating this provocative work, De Feure was possibly inspired by two historical events associated with Bruges: the procession of Saint-Sang that occurs on the day of the Ascension in commemoration of the relic brought back in 1149 from the Second Crusade by Thierry d'Alsace, Count of Flanders; and a group of Anabaptists brutally persecuted in the sixteenth century. The Anabaptists believed that at the apocalypse, God would baptise them in fire (represented by the smoking amphoras in the composition), and consumed by religious fervor, they ran naked through the city streets. Whatever the veracity of these potential sources, De Feure accentuates the sexual and sensual, using the duality of the concept of blood and the underlying theme of Original Sin and redemption.