Léopold Survage

Private Collection, New Mexico

Probably Venice, XII Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte, 1920, no.1161 (not listed in the catalogue)

J.Warnod, Léopold Survage, Paris: André de Rache, 1983, p.51 illustrated in b/w

Structural Condition The canvas is unlined and is securely attached to a fixed wooden stretcher. There is an old exhibition label on the reverse of the upper stretcher-bar. There are a number of very small repairs visible on the reverse of the canvas. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There is a pattern of slightly raised craquelure visible throughout the composition which appears stable at present. However if these lines were found to be visually distracting the canvas could be given a soft paste lining. This would necessitate the replacement of the existing fixed support with a newly made keyed wooden stretcher. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows some small scattered retouchings, most notably a few small spots within and around the man on the right of the composition, a thin vertical line and some further small spots within the red pigments in the upper part of the composition, small spots and lines within the buildings in the lower left, a small area within the buildings in the lower right and a few small spots within the fruit on the right of the composition. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition.
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In 1913 Survage met the wealthy Russian aristocrat, Hélène d’Oettingen, a patron of the arts and artist in her own right. Survage had established himself as an abstract painter with his famous Rythmes colorés, but was still a relatively impoverished artist. To escape the horrors of war, the young couple decide to move to the South of France and settle among the strong Russian community there. Like many painters before him - from Matisse, Braque and Manguin to Derain and Bonnard – Survage was enchanted by the unfamiliar qualities of the southern light, which were particularly novel for an artist brought up in the Urals.

The southern climes moved Survage to change his painting style by introducing colour into Cubism, which set him apart from Picasso and Braque. He incorporates movement by adding bullfinches and swallows, while the shadow of a man adds an element of detachment as we find in L’Homme dans la ville(fig.1). His compositions are full of algorithms, fig leaves, lemons and draughtboards; he paints the nearby towns, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Marseille and Nice, which is symbolised by lemons in his work, and his landscapes include views of the hills overlooking Monaco and Nice, Mont Agel and Mont Boron. The present lot comes from this rare series. It conveys splendour, simplicity and is a reflection of the artist’s happiness at this period.

The present work will be included in the forthcoming Survage catalogue raisonné being prepared by Eric Brosset.