Auguste Herbin

Galerie l'Effort Moderne (Léonce Rosenberg), Paris
Galerie Clovis Sagot, Paris
Vente : Sotheby's, Londres, 25 février, 1987, lot 135
Acquis lors de cette vente par le propriétaire actuel

Paris, Galerie Clovis Sagot, 1914

Geneviève Claisse, Herbin. Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Paris, 1993, no. 297, reproduit p. 331 (avec des dimensions incorrectes)

The canvas is not lined. A close examination reveals some minor networks of shrinkage in the darkest green pigment, in the dark blue pigment of the lower right corner and in the yellow arch. There are two minor spots of paint-loss on the extreme right edge, possibly due to old frame-rubbing. Examination under UV light reveals some small scattered spots of retouching, mostly in the upper part of the composition. This work is in very good condition.
"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."

signed 'Herbin' (lower left), oil on canvas. Painted in 1913.


"Herbin séjourne à Céret en compagnie de Picasso, de Juan Gris et de Matisse. Il y peint une vingtaine de paysages remarquables par l'ampleur des aplats géométriques qui transcendent l'objet. Plusieurs de ces compositions peuvent être considérées comme les prémices du cubisme de synthèse. Les formes géométriques se diversifient. Aux cercles et aux triangles viennent s'adjoindre des parallélogrammes, des ellipses, des rectangles, des carrés parfaits et des losanges. Le modèle semble n'être qu'un prétexte à l'expression d'un langage purement pictural et radicalement géométrique [...]. Paysage à Céret  est une dynamique de la composition et des couleurs[...]. L'ensemble des œuvres de l'année 1913 représente un sommet de créativité et de joie de peindre."

Geneviève Claisse, Herbin, Lausanne, 1993, cité p. 64

En 1913, Herbin séjourne à Céret en compagnie de Picasso, Gris et Matisse. Lors de ce séjour, il réalise plusieurs vues de la cité catalane, où aplats géométriques et formes variées préfigurent le cubisme synthétique. Dans cette version, plusieurs éléments distinctifs du village sont nettement reconnaissables comme les arches, certains détails architecturaux ou la nature environnante. Pour autant, le sujet n'est ici qu'un prétexte à multiplier les agencements de formes et de couleurs.

Encore éloigné des œuvres de maturité de l'artiste, ce paysage comporte déjà en germe une partie du vocabulaire stylistique qui caractérisera l'art d'Herbin dans les années ultérieures, mélange de formes rigoureuses et de nuances chromatiques délicates et infiniment variées. Cette œuvre est révélatrice du style très personnel d'Herbin qui réussit à faire siens les codes du cubisme sans pour autant renier les apports du fauvisme. Contrairement aux autres peintres cubistes comme Picasso, Braque ou Gris pour qui le cubisme va de paire avec une palette monochrome, Herbin réussit à faire coïncider rythmique formelle et châtoiement de la couleur, ce qui sera une des caractéristiques majeures de son art jusqu'à la fin de sa vie.



"In 1913 Herbin went to stay in Céret in the company of Picasso, Juan Gris and Matisse. Here, he painted twenty or so important landscapes which are remarkable for the range of geometrical planes that make up their compositions and the resulting transcendence of the object depicted. These compositions can be considered the beginnings of synthetic cubism. The geometric forms evolve and diversify. Parallelograms, ellipses, rhombuses, and rectangles are added to the basic vocabulary of circles and triangles. The subject seems to present no more than a pretext for the expression of a purely pictorial and geometrically radical language. [...] Paysage à Céret is a dynamic harmony of composition and colour [... and] together, the works of 1913 represent the summit of Herbin's creativity and joy of painting. " 

(Geneviève Claisse, Herbin, Paris, 1993, p. 64. Translated from the French.)

In 1913, Herbin stayed in Céret in the company of Picasso, Gris and Matisse. During his sojourn he painted several views of this small Catalan village in southern France which announce his departure from Fauvism and define his preference for a geometric style which powerfully prefigures synthetic cubism. In the present work, several distinctive elements of the village are clearly recognisable, such as the arches, certain architectural details and the surrounding environment. The subject is nevertheless a mere pretext for multiplying the arrangements of form and colour.

Still a while away from the mature works of the artist, this landscape already contains the seeds of the stylistic vocabulary that would characterise the art of Herbin in the later years: a rigorous combination of forms and delicate and infinitely varied chromatic nuances. The present work compellingly announces the very personal style of Herbin which successfully makes the codes of cubism his own without ever fully renouncing his Fauvist beginnings. Contrary to the cubist painters Picasso, Braque and Gris for whom cubism went hand in hand with a monochromic palette, Herbin here succeeds in marrying formal rhythms with dazzling colour, a major characteristic of his art from this period onwards. The present work was exhibited in 1914 at the Galerie Clovis Sagot, one of the first galleries to show Picasso's work and the first gallery to organize a one man show of Herbin's painting.