- 191
LUCIEN LÉVY-DHURMER | Beethoven mask
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 EUR
bidding is closed
Description
- Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer
- Beethoven mask
- Signed lower left Lévy Dhurmer ; bears and old inscription on the back le Masque / Lévy Dhurmer 3 bis rue La bruyère / Marche funèbre / le Masque / héroïque
- Pastel on paper
- 91 x 65,3 cm ; 35 7/8 by 25 3/4 in.
Condition
Good overall condition. Paper slightly warped. Paper mounted on board, stuck along the edges. Small pinholes on the upper left and on the upper right, near the edge. Small scratching effects in the right part and on some yellow areas, possibly made by the artist himself. Slightly rubbed near the edges. Some scattered wears. Some foxing.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer shows Beethoven materializing from a laurel tree, light beaming from his forehead and with both eyes closed. Lévy-Dhurmer is here expressing the musical creativity churning in the composer's brain, an interior world from which the viewer is barred, able only to perceive the external signs of genius. The present pastel is not a portrait but an evocation of Beethoven's timeless and universal genius, in the form of an apotheosis that almost raises the man to a divine status.An idealised incarnation of tormented and solitary genius, Beethoven rapidly became a legendary figure, the object of a real cult. It is in this climate that Lévy-Dhurmer's works paying homage to Beethoven must be viewed. Several are known, notably the oil painting on canvas sold for €47,500 at Sotheby's Paris on 15 June 2017, the painting offered in the current sale and two important pastel triptychs. The choice of such a format, recalling religious art, reflects the nature of the emotion that Lévy-Dhurmer must have felt when listening to the composer's music. The first triptych, now dismembered, shows the composer's face as a sort of effigy or funeral mask emerging from a bushy laurel tree with quivering leaves, flanked by two female figures representing on the one hand the Funeral March (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Brest) and on the other the Eroica (private collection). The second triptych, which is intact and preserved at the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, shows the inwardly focused composer in the centre, with his eyes closed; on either side two female busts represent respectively the Appassionata Sonata and the Ode to Joy.
The present pastel, which has an old inscription on the back – 'Marche funèbre/le Masque/ héroïque' – relates directly to the dismembered triptych and could be a preparatory sketch for the central panel. The composition is indeed very similar: in both works Beethoven's head emerges from the branches of a laurel tree. On the other hand, the face in the present pastel has affinities with the Petit Palais triptych. This pastel, so close to both triptychs, was very probably made at around the same time: according to a list handwritten by the artist in the Zagorowsky archives, the triptychs were executed around 1906.
The present pastel, which has an old inscription on the back – 'Marche funèbre/le Masque/ héroïque' – relates directly to the dismembered triptych and could be a preparatory sketch for the central panel. The composition is indeed very similar: in both works Beethoven's head emerges from the branches of a laurel tree. On the other hand, the face in the present pastel has affinities with the Petit Palais triptych. This pastel, so close to both triptychs, was very probably made at around the same time: according to a list handwritten by the artist in the Zagorowsky archives, the triptychs were executed around 1906.