Otto van Rees

Around 1930, when the present lot was painted, Van Rees temporarily turned completely back to the Cubist compositional schemes; portraits and still life-like motifs were again constructed from overlapping surfaces. In this period Van Rees was in contact with the international group Cercle et Carré, which consisted mainly of abstract artists. He participated in the first exhibition of this movement in 1930 in Paris.

(from: exhibition catalogue, Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Otto en Adya van Rees, 30 April - 22 June 1975, pp. 84-85)