Lot n° 378
Estimation :
50000 - 60000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 201 500EUR
Maurice UTRILLO (1883-1955) - Lot 378
Maurice UTRILLO (1883-1955)
The Agile Rabbit, circa 1912
Oil on cardboard.
Signed and dated lower right.
77 x 106.5 cm
Provenance :
Private collection
Certificate from the Association Utrillo.
Formerly the hunting lodge of King Henri IV, it only became a cabaret and inn in 1879. From 1903 to 1914, the Lapin Agile (named after the advertising sign invented by Montmartre caricaturist André Gill) was a meeting place for Parisian artists and writers. At the turn of the century, it was possible to meet Utrillo and his mother Suzanne Valadon, Picasso (who decorated the cabaret with two paintings), Modigliani, Marie Laurencin and men of letters such as Francis Carco, Apollinaire, Cocteau, Dorgelès and Max
Jacob.
In 1909, Louis Libaude acquired his first Utrillo painting from the painter's mother, Suzanne Valadon, who was much better known than her son. In 1912, Libaude went from being a patron and collector to becoming Utrillo's dealer, establishing an exclusive agreement with him. This monthly income ensured the family's financial stability. The price of Maurice's paintings now rivaled those obtained by his mother. Libaude introduced
Utrillo his first clients, the painter Francis Jourdain, Octave Mirbeau, the publisher Paul Gallimard and Kapferer, the famous airship designer. The following year, 1913, Utrillo had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Eugène Blot.
Our painting is characteristic of Utrillo's "White Period" (1910-1915): the general harmony of colors is reduced, with whites dominating, more or less luminous: they adorn the facades of modest Montmartre houses with their dilapidated whitewashed walls.
The site's modesty, solitude and apparent abandonment create a powerful poetic effect. Here, in the gray light of the Parisian skies, Utrillo paints the perspectives of the streets of Montmartre, with their houses often with closed shutters, echoes of his deeply melancholic soul.
This lot is presented by Cabinet Chanoit.
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