Maurice Utrillo

Louis Libaude, Paris
Madame Claire Rolin, Venice
Robert Schmit, Paris
Acquired in 1973 by the present owner

Caracas, Museo de Bellas Artes, Cinco siglos de arte francés, 1977, no. 62, illustrated in the catalogue
Tokyo, Isetan Galleries, Exposition Maurice Utrillo & Suzanne Valadon, 1978, no. 9, illustrated in color in the catalogue
London, Wildenstein & Co., Maurice Utrillo, 1980, no. 4, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Lodève, Musée de Lodève, Utrillo, 1997, no. 12, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Tokyo, Odakyu Museum, Exposition Utrillo & Valadon, 2000, no. 4, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Tokyo, Yasuda Kasai Seiji Togo Museum of Fine Arts, Maurice Utrillo, 2002, no. 3, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Paul Pétridès, L'Oeuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo, vol. V, Paris, 1947, no. 2476, illustrated p. 118
Jeanine Warnod, Maurice Utrillo, New York, 1983, illustrated in color p. 15

The canvas has been lined. The surface is nicely textured though the canvas is slightly buckled at upper left. There are a couple small losses at the center of the stained glass windows of the church at center left. Under UV light: these spots of paint loss fluoresce, but no other inpainting is apparent. Overall the 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

As Pier Carlo Santini observes, "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" (Pier Carlo Santini, Modern Landscape Painting, London, 1972, p. 53).