Auguste Herbin

Paul Cassirer, Berlin
Gerard Eichenberg, New York (acquired from the above)
Andrew Pan, New York (by descent from the above and sold by the estate: Sotheby’s, New York, November 6, 2002, lot 180)
Acquired at the above sale

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined. The surface is richly textured and the impasto is well-preserved. The colors are vibrant and fresh. There is a pindot loss at the extreme lower left edge. There are areas of faint stable hairline craquelure in the thickest areas of pigment in the sky, in the yellow at center and lower right quadrant. There is some minor paint shrinkage in the darkest greens toward the center of the right edge. There is a 2 inch square patch visible on the reverse of the canvas. Under Uv light, there is a dime-sized area of inpainting in the red pigments at center left correspondig to the patch on the verso. There are a few areas of inpainting in the sky along the upper edge and in the left corner, which continue the color of some of the artist's original brushstrokes. There is an area of inpainting in the dark green pigments at center left. There are a few scattered spots of inpainting in the yellow pigments at center and in the yellow at lower center.
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.

Sotheby's is thrilled to present three extraordinary examples of Herbin’s Fauve output, characterized by the artist’s unique use of thick bands of color and vibrant hues. Highlighting the importance of the link between color and sensation, these landscapes are a compelling insight into the artist's ability to translate light into form, anticipating the bright and abstract paintings he would later produce toward the end of the 1920s. 1907 was a pivotal year for Herbin. By this time he had fully embraced Fauvism, and he exhibited works, including La Place Maubert (lot 115), at the seminal Salon des Indépendents. In the spring of 1907, he was invited to Corsica by the German collector and art critic Wilhelm Uhde. The Corsican sun and colors were a revelation for Herbin who was, at the time, fully involved with the Fauve revolution. This visit not only inspired Herbin to experiment with light and landscape, it also provided the ideal setting for him to push the boundaries of figurative representation and form and to experiment with the limits of geometry and swaths of unmodulated of color, as in Route de montagne en Corse (lot 114). The following years would see the artist move into the famed Bateau Lavoir studios in Paris and work alongside artists Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gris, rapidly incorporating Cubist tenets into his evolving style and ultimately becoming a founding member of the Abstraction-Création movement.



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Geneviève Claisse.