The year 1912 was a critical juncture in the artist’s early career, marking the start of his celebrated White Period, so named for the bleached and ashen palette he employed in the works from those years. Painted at the pinnacle of the artist’s career, the present work is a charming depiction of the convent of Morosaglia on the island of Corsica, a product of Utrillo’s travels from his home in Paris (see fig. 1).

Best-known for his views of the streets of Montmartre, Utrillo won public approbation from critics, dealers and collectors despite the rejection of his application to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1909. Painting was thrust upon Utrillo as therapy to combat the weakness for alcohol that plagued him from early youth; it then became the one constant in his unbalanced life. The writer-turned-art-dealer Louis Libaude signed a contract with the artist in 1910, ensuring that three of his landscapes were shown at the Salon d’Automne later that year. Evoking the tranquil Mediterranean atmosphere of the Corsican village, the rustic beauty of Le Couvent de Morosaglia (Corse) is conveyed through the balanced composition, carefully applied hues and meticulous rendering of perspective. Typical of Utrillo’s works, this painting reveals its qualities slowly, as time enables the appreciation of the subtle variations of tones which comprise the surfaces of the Corsican buildings. Utrillo sometimes mixed plaster with his white oil colors to mimic weathered facades. As Adolphe Tabarant describes, “At this time Utrillo uses a palette of many whites, but these never become chalky or dull. He surrounds them with soft greys, delicate pinks, deep blues, or else contrasts them with sonorous browns and blacks” (Adolphe Tabarant, Utrillo, Paris, 1926, p. 168).