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Georges Rouault (French, 1871–1958)
See original version (French)
237
-
Georges Rouault (French, 1871–1958)
See original version (French)
Estimate €50,000 - €60,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Georges Rouault (French, 1871–1958)
Harlequin (Pink Harmony), c. 1948–1952
Canvas.
Studio stamp on the reverse of the canvas.
Height 40.7, Width 31.8 cm.
Pink frame.
Provenance: private collection, Arcachon.
Georges Rouault. A painting of Harlequin. Canvas, c. 1948–1952.
Notice of inclusion in the complete catalogue of works by Georges Rouault, by Jean-Yves Rouault, President of the Rouault Foundation, dated 5 December 2013.
Art Loss Register, London, 8 April 2024, no. S00243384.
Bibliography: Olivier Nouaille and Olivier Rouault, *Rouault l’oeuvre peint*, Paris, Fondation Georges Rouault, 2021, reproduced on p. 299 under no. 4427-3185.
Created by Georges Rouault towards the end of his career, between 1948 and 1952, *Arlequin (harmonie rose)* should be seen as a synthesis of the artist’s reflections, as he explores a theme dear to him whilst softening his aesthetic vocabulary.
ROUAULT’S LAST HARLEQUINS
An unclassifiable painter, belonging to no particular movement, Rouault presented his own reality without transcribing the truth, preferring to ‘turn his back on nature’, as André Suarès noted. In this respect, he differs from his 19th-century predecessors, such as Honoré Daumier, Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made their mark with depictions of the circus. With its tight framing, revealing only the upper part of Harlequin’s torso, this work forms part of the body of paintings produced at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s (see Olivier Nouaille and Olivier Rouault, op. cit., p. 299). The artist plays with variations in the depiction of emotions. Here meditative with a barely sketched smile, Harlequin can also be deeply joyful, as in the 1947 painting (reproduced in Pierre Courthion, *Georges Rouault*, Paris, Flammarion, 1962, p. 281). He does not convey ‘infinite sadness’, unlike the canvases of the early 20th century, but shares his artist’s sense of calm. *Harlequin (Pink Harmony)* reveals a softening of the painter’s tones and features a thick impasto. It foreshadows the paintings from the twilight of Rouault’s career, in which the boundary between painting and sculpture tends to blur.
Georges Rouault worked tirelessly on depicting characters from the circus and the Commedia dell’arte from around 1902–1903. This painting is one of the final stages in his exploration of Harlequin, following his numerous depictions of the figure, notably in *Divertissement*, published in 1943. ‘I saw clearly that the “Pitre” was me, it was us – almost all of us,’ wrote Georges Rouault to the writer and philosopher Edouard Schuré in 1905. These burlesque figures provided the artist with a means of reflecting on his contemporaries, on the world around him and on his own existence. ‘He is not simply seeking a means of expressing artistic or formal concerns regarding colour and movement, but rather the possibility of conveying all that hidden life there may be behind the make-up, the powder and the sequins ’ (Danielle Molinari, *Georges Rouault catalogue raisonné*, Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, 1983, p. 31). Harlequin thus serves as a vehicle for introspection.
Brice Langlois
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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