María Blanchard

Collection Rosenberg
Collection Simonet
Acquis auprès du précédent par le propriétaire actuel

Liliane Caffin Madaule, Catalogue raisonné des œuvres de María Blanchard, vol. II, Londres, 1994, reproduit p. 165

The canvas is unlined. There is some stable craquelure predominately in the red pigment. There is a slight bar mark in the centre of the composition. Under UV light, there are two small areas of retouching in the girl's proper right arm and in the lower right of her dress which corresponds to two small patches on the reverse. There are smaller spots of retouching along edges and some minute scattered dots of retouching in the composition. This work is in 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."

signed 'M. BLANCHARD' (lower left); oil on canvas. Painted circa 1925-26.

French version

Depuis son premier séjour parisien en 1909, au cours duquel elle étudie à l’Académie Vitti avec Kees van Dongen, l'espagnole María Blanchard est vite introduite dans les milieux avant-gardistes de l’époque. Elle expérimente d’abord le Fauvisme, mais André Lhote et Juan Gris auront sur elle une influence déterminante en l’introduisant au Cubisme dès 1916. Après la Première Guerre Mondiale, dans les années 20, Blanchard, comme beaucoup des membres de l’avant-garde parisienne, effectue un retour à la figuration.

Ce magnifique portrait de jeune fille en est un exemple très accompli du même vocabulaire esthétique qu’elle avait présenté avec grand succès en 1921 au Salon des Indépendants avec son tableau La Communiante. Dans L’enfant au bracelet l’héritage du Cubisme est toujours visible dans le traitement des drapés et de la chaise mais Blanchard se l’approprie par un nouveau langage esthétique : elle développe la plastique cubiste de façon tout à fait originale, en donnant à la figure humaine une place inhabituelle et plus prononcée. 

C’est donc tout à fait naturellement que Blanchard intègre le groupe de des peintres soutenus par Léonce Rosenberg dans sa galerie L'Effort Moderne, qui expose L’enfant au bracelet avant qu’il n'aboutisse dans une collection privée et ne réapparaisse aujourd’hui en vente publique.

English version:

From her first stay in Paris in 1909 during which she studied at the Vitti Academy with Kees Van Dongen, the Spanish artist Maria Blanchard was rapidly a part of the period’s avant-garde. She first experimented with Fauvism, but André Lhote and Juan Gris both had a decisive influence on her by introducing her to Cubism in 1916. Following the First World War in the 1920s, Blanchard, like many members of the Parisian avant-garde, returned to figuration.

This outstanding portrait of a young girl is a very accomplished example of this and pursues the same aesthetic vocabulary that the artist presented with great success in 1921 at the Salon des Indépendants with her painting La Communiante. In L’enfant au bracelet the influence of Cubism is still visible in the treatment of the drapery and the chair but Blanchard adapts it to her own style through a new aesthetic language: she develops the Cubist approach in a totally original way, by giving the human figure an unusually pronounced position.

It was, then, very natural that Blanchard should integrate the group of painters supported by Léonce Rosenberg in his L’Effort Moderne gallery, which presented L’enfant au bracelet before it was sold to a private collection only to reappear on the market today.