Henri Manguin

Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquired from the artist in March 1906)
Galerie E. Druet, Paris
Vogel Collection, Switzerland
Sale: Galerie Koller, Zurich, June 1, 1973, lot 2999
J.P.L. Fine Arts, London
Acquired from the above circa 1990

Paris, Galerie E. Druet, Manguin, 1910, no. 32 (titled Nu se coiffant)
Paris, Serres du Cours-la Reine, Sociétè des Artistes Indépendants, 26e exposition, 1910, no. 3441 (titled Nu)
Neuchâtel, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Manguin, 1964, no. 73, illustrated in the catalogue
Paris, Galerie de Paris, Manguin dans les collections suisses, 1964, no. 11

Pierre Cabanne, Henri Manguin, Neuchâtel, 1964, no. 97, illustrated p. 119
Lucile & Claude Manguin, Henri Manguin, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Neuchâtel, 1980, no. 104, illustrated p. 71

The canvas has been lined. The surface is richly textured and well preserved. The pigments are vibrant. Thin lines of stable craquelure are scattered throughout the center of the composition, with three more prominent horizontal lines visible toward left upper center edge, right center edge and at the composition's center. Retouches are visible toward the top of the figure's standing leg and midway through her calf, both visible under UV light. Also visible under UV light: certain original pigments fluoresce. A small horizontal stroke of inpainting is visible along the lower left edge, as well as a few additional strokes toward the top left corner. The work is in overall 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.

Following the death of Gustave Moreau, the beloved teacher of Manguin, Albert Marquet and Henri Matisse, the three young artists sought to pool their resources, constructing a makeshift studio in the garden of Manguin's home at 61 rue Boursault. The three worked together, intermittently hosting other avant-garde artists, and during the winter of 1904-05 hired a model from whom they each drew and painted from life. According to artist André Dunoyer de Segonzac, "The Three M's were talked about incessantly at the beginning of the century, three young men noted for the independence of their art. Matisse, Marquet, Manguin..." (Pierre Cabane, Henri Manguin, 1964, p. 53).

Incorporating vivid pinks, reds and blue highlights, Manguin celebrates the sensual grace of the female nude; her Venus-like curves are accentuated by vibrant pigments. The playful incorporation of the mirror allows the viewer to focus on sensitively captured surface tones of the model, whose smoothness and curvilinear forms are in harmony with her surroundings. Singled out as the strongest of a new crop of artists showing at the Salon d'Automne in 1904 by the critic Louis Vauxcelles, Manguin, Marquet, Matisse and Camoin banded together, "The four of them worked that autumn with Jean Puy in Manguin's collapsible studio behind the apartment on the rue Boursault. Marquet and Manguin responded once again to Matisse's Divisionist enthusiasm: all three painted each other and their nude model with a gaiety and gusto that owed more to Luce's slapdash style as Divisionist than to Signac's rigor. Winter was the season of intrigue, cabals and furious lobbying behind the scenes as different art-world factions drummed up support on the various committees that would control who showed what and how at next year's exhibitions. Charles Guérin enlisted Matisse in December for the Salon d'Automne's planning meeting, instructing him to bring Manguin, Marquet and any other sympathizers he could muster" (Hilary Spurling, The Unknown Matisse, A Life of Henri Matisse: The Early Years, 1869-1908, New York, 1998, p. 295).

Writing of the three artists, Hilary Spurling notes, "The one lasting gain he (Matisse) brought away from the school was his alliance with two younger boys, Henri Manguin and Albert Marquet, who were the first close friends he made among painters outside his home circle. From now on the three worked side by side, swapping advice, criticizing and comparing their respective canvases, urging each other on, indoors and out, in Paris and on the Mediterranean coast, throughout the struggles that convulsed the French art world, and painting itself, in the years to leading up to and away from the Fauve summer of 1905" (ibid., p. 80).