安德烈·德安

Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York

Acquired from the above

Very good condition. The sheet is in stable condition and intact. The paper is taped to its top mat at the four verso edges with acidic paper-gum tape. The paper appears mildly oxidized throughout, but its palette it quite vibrant masking any discoloration. The medium appears stable and shows no signs of fading.
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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.

Le Repos was created at the genesis of the Fauve movement, in the months surrounding the historic Salon d'Automne of 1905. Although Matisse's Luxe, calme et volupté had attracted much of the critical attention, the present work illustrates how Derain had already begun to move away from Divisionism, which undermined the importance of drawing; as Derain commented around this time, pointillist techniques created 'a world that destroys itself when one pushes it to the absolute' (Letter to Maurice de Vlaminck, 28^th July 1905). This development was in tandem with Matisse, whose work Bonheur de vivre, which was presented in 1906 at the Salon des Indepéndants, shows his reaction against Divisionism in favor of drawing. The present work, characterized by the dynamic treatment of figures and the interplay between a strong emphasis on line and vibrant, Fauve colors shows the artist investing a kinetic quality to his compositions.

While Matisse's work was undoubtedly the principal influence on Derain during this period, there was a marked difference between the older artist and his protégé in terms of their inspiration; 'Whereas Matisse had selected his subject from a relatively modern poet, Baudelaire. Derain turned to classical antiquity, to Ovid's Metamorphoses – that vast treasure house of iconology that had appealed to Raphael, Titian, and Rubens as well as to many others, and, in doing so, he reverted to a tradition which, quite recently in France, had been followed by Bonnard, Maurice Denis and  K. X. Roussel' (D. Sutton, André Derain, London, 1959, p.15).