Georges Seurat

Estate of the Artist
Mme Germain Teisset
Mme Henry Rogers (née Marie Gueydan)
Félix Fénéon, Paris (probably acquired in the 1920s; sale: Hotel Drouot, Paris, 2ème vente Fénéon, 30th May 1947, lot 36)
Alphonse Bellier, Paris (probably purchased at the above sale)
Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris (sale: Sotheby's, London, 16th April 1970, lot 51)
Roland, Browse & Delbanco, London (purchased at the above sale)
Henry Moore, Much Hadham, United Kingdom (acquired by 1974)
Mary Moore, United Kingdom (by descent from the above; sale: Sotheby's, New York, Property from the Collection of Mary Moore and Various Trusts, 13th May 1997, lot 7)
Private Collection (purchased at the above sale; sale: Sotheby's, New York, 5th November 2002, lot 6)
Purchased at the above sale by the late owner

Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Seurat, 1920, no. 52
Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Les dessins de Seurat, 1926, no. 38
Paris, Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Exposition Seurat 1859-1891, 1936, no. 99
Paris, Galerie Jean-Claude & Jacques Bellier, D' Ingres à nos jours, 1960, no. 82
Cassel, Fridericianum Museum, Dokumenta III, 1964, no. 12
London, The British Museum, Auden/Moore, 1974, no. 14
Paris, Didier Imbert Fine Art, Henry Moore - Intime, 1992-93, no. Fa 213
Vienna, Albertina Museum, Goya bis Picasso. Meisterwerke der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2005, no. 85, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Das Ewige Auge - Von Rembrandt bis Picasso. Meisterwerke der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2007, no. 140, illustrated in colour in the catalogueNew York, The Museum of Modern Art, Georges Seurat. The Drawings, 2007-2008, no. 78, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Gustave Kahn, Les Dessins de Georges Seurat, Paris, 1928, no. 45, illustrated pl. XVI
César M. de Hauke, Seurat et son œuvre, Paris, 1961, vol. II, no. 532, illustrated p. 125
Alan Wilkinson, The Drawings of Henry Moore, London, 1977, fig. 54, illustrated p. 39

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down, attached to the mount at the two upper corners and lower right corner, and floating in the mount. The left and lower edges are deckled, and the upper and right edges are slightly unevenly cut. The sheet is very slightly time-stained, and there is some extremely minor mount staining to the extreme left and right edges. There are a few tiny nicks to the extreme right edge. Otherwise this work is in overall 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."

Les deux charrettes was once in the collection of the great Impressionist critic Félix Fénéon. After his death in 1944, it was sold by his estate and years later purchased by the British artist Henry Moore, who cited it as an inspiration for many of his own works on paper of the 1970s. In discussing Seurat's impact on his own work form 1974, Moore wrote: 'I look at [the present work] almost every day, and I feel that my recent "black" drawings also owe a lot to him' (quoted in Alan Wilkinson, op.cit., p. 39).