Louis Marcoussis

Alice Halicka (Estate of the artist)
Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin
Walter Schwarzenberg, Brussels
Toni Stadler, Munich (1888 - 1982; son of Anton von Stadler, Austrian landscape painter and co-founder of the Munich Secession in 1893. Toni trained in the arts from an early stage, mainly in sculpture. Between 1946 and 1958 he was head of the sculpture class at the Munich Art Academy)
Dr. Phil Ruprecht Kurzrock, Berlin
Lipert Gallery, New York (until 1991)
Private collection, Germany

Bruxelles, Le Centaure Gallery (label on the reverse)

The artist's sheet has been hinged to the mat along its four corners, on the reverse, thus preventing inspection of the back. The sheet appears somewhat brown in accordance with the natural ageing process. This work is in good condition and ready to hang. Presented glazed, in a simple brown wooden frame, and in a white mount.
"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.
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'Wishing to reach the dimension of the ideal, not restricted to humanity, young painters offer us works more intellectual than sensorial. They move away more and more from the ancient art of optical illusions and circumscribed proportions to express the greatness of metaphysical forms'

Guillaume Apollinaire,  Les Peintres cubistes

Executed in 1912, Still Life with Chessboard dates from the best period of the artist’s career (see also note to previous lot). Just one year later Marcoussis would exhibit three works at the Salon des Indépendants, along with artists including Gleizes, Archipenko and Metzinger, and at the First German Salon d'Automne held at Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin. Featuring over 350 works by over eighty different painters, this was a key exhibition for the promotion of the new avant-garde movements.

The early stages of Cubism were centred on the graphic deconstruction of an object and its re-presentation from multiple viewpoints, typically in a limited, mainly brown palette. Marcoussis experimented with this deconstruction of objects and planes that defined analytical Cubism. Marcoussis's cubist components consist mainly of overlapping rectangular and polygonal forms, and elements of typography. Whilst inspired by the work of Braque and Picasso, the carefully balanced rhythms in Marcoussis's cubist forms suggest the presence of an overriding schematic design, and in this regard, his early cubist works demonstrate a strong affinity with the Cubism of Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, and the other painters in the so-called Puteaux group centered around the brothers Marcel Duchamp and Jacques Villon. The Puteaux artists were interested in mathematical theories of proportion, the 'golden section' of the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. And indeed, Marcoussis first exhibited his cubist paintings at the Section d'Or exhibition in October 1912. Organized by the Puteaux artists, this proved to be the last great group enterprise of the Cubist movement.

COMP:

Fig.1: Louis Marcoussis, Le Rire, circa 1911-12