Maurice Utrillo

Galerie Barbazanges, Paris
Alex Reid & Lefevre, London
The 9th Earl of Jersey, Jersey (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owners

Paris, Galerie Barbazanges, Maurice Utrillo, œuvres peintes de 1910 à 1914, 1925, no. 60
London, Alex Reid & Lefevre, Utrillo, The White Period 1910-1915, 1935, no. 9, illustrated in the catalogue
St. Helier, La Société Jersiaise, Centenary Art Exhibition, 1973, no. 9

Art News, New York, 24th October 1913, illustrated
Adolphe Basler, Maurice Utrillo, Paris, 1931, illustrated p. 21
Pierre Mortier & Roland Dorgeles, Le Monde Illustré, numéro spécial, 10th July 1937, illustrated n.p.
Marius Mermillon, Collection des Maîtres: Utrillo, Paris, 1948, illustrated pl. 28
Paul Pétridès, L'Œuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo, Paris, 1959, vol. I, no. 179, illustrated p. 228

Painted on cradled-panel, the panel is sound. There is a thick varnish. UV examination reveals some small scattered areas of retouching in places, the most prominent of which are to the edges and corners, and one to the central white chimney. Otherwise, this work is in overall good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue, though the colours are slightly warmer in the original.
"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."

Painted circa 1910, L’Hôtel du Tertre is a superlative example from Utrillo’s celebrated 'White Period' (circa 1909-1912). Working at the height of his artistic powers, it was during these years that Utrillo’s realistic views of Montmartre first won him the recognition of his contemporaries and public approbation from critics, dealers and collectors. The ‘White Period’ or ‘Periode Blanche’ is so-called for the preponderance of white stucco which dominated the edifices of Montmartre and thus Utrillo’s canvases, yet as Adolphe Tabarant notes, ‘At this time Utrillo uses a palette of many whites, but these never become chalky or dull. He surrounds them with soft greys, delicate pinks, deep blues, or else contrasts them with sonorous browns and blacks’ (Adolphe Tabarant, Utrillo, Paris, 1926). L’Hôtel du Tertre illustrates precisely this approach; and Utrillo achieves a masterful tonal composition, delicately balancing orange and red against complimentary blues and green, framed by a striking diagonal swatch of signature white.

The present work also reveals Utrillo’s unique ability to simultaneously act as a fastidious documentarian of architectural detail and a profound confessor for the soul of Montmartre. While maintaining unmistakable stylisation, the artist sought to escape the traditional limitations of painting and deliver the sensual qualities of the city through his canvases. ‘Dissatisfied with the effects obtainable with zinc white, he tries combining it with plaster, in an effort to reproduce the whites of his beloved walls. In a frenzy of realism, he would like to go so far as to put real moss on the old stones which he strives so hard to reproduce’(Adolphe Tabarant, Utrillo, Paris, 1926). The White Period paintings are veritable portals to Utrillo’s world and Place du Tertre, the setting for the present work, is only a few blocks from both Sacré Cœur and the Lapin Agile, at the heart of Montmartre. The spirit and anxiety of the now legendary community is palpable in L’Hôtel du Tertre, an elegiac testament to the life of a denizen artist. As Carlo Santini writes, ‘Utrillo is a poet: the lonely, isolated poet of a reality that is sometimes trivial in the extreme, sometimes majestic and sumptuous. Utrillo has no need of any special figurative setting: walls, grilles, hoardings, trees, lamp-posts, cobblestones, rows of houses, cathedral towers, pavements, fences, factory chimneys, and great dark windows all take their place in his work with their own peculiar expressiveness. These and many other objects are imbued with feeling, sometimes with drama; they suggest the passage of time, the waning of life, the desperate melancholy of certain times and seasons’ (Carlo Santini, Modern Landscape Painting, London, 1972, p. 53).