Maurice Utrillo

M. Levasseur, Paris
Dr. Fritz Trüssel, Berne
Private Collection, France
Galerie Pétridès, Paris
Acquired from the above by the grandfather of the present owner

Geneva, Galerie Georges Moos, Maurice Utrillo, 1943, no. 16, illustrated in the catalogue
Bern, Kunsthalle, Maurice Utrillo, 1949, no. 33
Vevey, Musée Jenisch, Exposition Maurice Utrillo, Modigliani, Utter, Valadon, 1955, no. 49
Tokyo, Galeries Isetan (& travelling in Japan), Exposition Maurice Utrillo et Suzanne Valadon, 1978-79, no. 54

Francis Carco, Maurice Utrillo, Paris, 1921, illustrated p. 61
Paul Pétridès, L'Œuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo, Paris, 1962, vol. II, no. 709, illustrated p. 207

The canvas is not lined and UV examination reveals three small areas of retouching to the central tower of the Château and a further tiny spot to the sky There is a tiny 0.5cm long vertical dent towards the upper left corner and a few minute paint losses in places. This work would benefit from a clean. Otherwise this work is in overall good condition. Colours: fairly accurate in the printed catalogue, though overall 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."

The present work depicts Le Château des Mesnuls, an estate in the countryside near Paris. This work was executed during Utrillo’s colourist phase which is marked by a brightening of colour and a greater stress on line. It is in this period that new thematic elements turn up, he starts painting in towns on the outskirts of Paris and it was at this time that he won the recognition of his contemporaries and his work first won public approbation from critics.

According to Carlo Santini, ‘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).