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Bernard BOUTET DE MONVEL (1881-1949)
At the races, circa 191…
See original version (French)
22
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Bernard BOUTET DE MONVEL (1881-1949)
At the races, circa 191…
See original version (French)
Estimate €3,000 - €5,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Bernard BOUTET DE MONVEL (1881-1949)
At the races, circa 1914
Watercolour, Indian ink and collage on card
Signed lower left
Sheet: 25.4 x 31.9 cm
Subject: 18.5 x 24.3 cm
With frame: 32.5 x 39.5 cm
Presenting a Delaunay Belleville 14 - 16 HP chassis, 6 cylinders, type 1914 - 1915, this watercolour plays on the modernity of a composition in which the whole of the upper third is devoted to a flat area of chestnut tree leaves rigorously pruned "à la française".
The figure with his back to the foreground, indicating a direction to the driver with the tip of his cane, is a repentance on the part of the artist who, unable to erase the silhouette initially drawn, covered it with a new composition cut from a separate sheet of paper.
The yellow colour of the car's bodywork, on the other hand, was done by someone other than Bernard Boutet de Monvel, possibly one of Draeger's printers for the catalogue.
The colours are very fresh.
At the end of 1913, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, painter and illustrator of elegance, "sportmen and dandies" - along with his brother Roger, the artist was one of the founding members of the Gazette du Bon Ton - was commissioned by Delaunay Belleville, a manufacturer of luxury car chassis, to produce four major watercolour advertisements to illustrate their 1914 catalogue.
These four watercolours, reproduced by Draeger and accompanied by a text by Roger Boutet de Monvel, were intended, through the modernity of their line and the clarity of their composition, to convey all the majesty and chic of the automobiles prized by King Edward VII, Tsar Nicholas II and President Roosevelt alike.
We would like to thank Stéphane-Jacques Addade, President of the European Chamber of Art Experts and expert on the work of Bernard Boutet de Monvel, for confirming the authenticity of this work.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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