Galerie Dreyfus
49
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MARIE LAURENCIN (PARIS, 1883 – PARIS, 1956)
A Young Nobleman…
See original version (French)
49
-
MARIE LAURENCIN (PARIS, 1883 – PARIS, 1956)
A Young Nobleman…
See original version (French)
Estimate €30,000 - €38,000
Voluntary lot
Description
MARIE LAURENCIN
(PARIS, 1883 – PARIS, 1956)
A Young Nobleman in Front of His Palace
1932
Oil on canvas
27 x 42 cm.
Signed and dated ‘Marie Laurencin 1932’ top right
These two light-coloured figures, moving against the foreground of a verdant countryside,
seem to float rather than run through this whimsical space. The dog, a slender white form,
stands out almost like a cross against the canvas. He is followed by his master, sketched in the same
style, but distinguished by the addition of two colours: the green of his doublet and
the brown of his headdress. They are heading towards a bridge on the left, which spans a river. Just
behind them, a building with geometric forms represents a castle flanked by two
square towers. Simplified to the extreme, the light grey forms resemble a set of cubes whose
openwork sides form openings—windows without frames—sometimes enlivened by a splash of colour,
a curtain or a door. In the background, nature spreads its greenery across a rolling landscape.
As is her custom, Marie Laurencin does not seek to depict any particular
landscape, but rather to evoke an atmosphere, somewhere between dream and poetry. The colours
play a role here akin to that of a backdrop. Placed side by side, without any gradations in tone, they do not seek
to create volume or depth. The cool tones belong to the palette of the
painter, who favours ethereal effects. The scene is reminiscent of a theatre set where a prince and
his dog might set off for a walk.
Marie Laurencin (1883–1956) was a French portrait painter, poet and illustrator. Enrolled at
the École de Sèvres to train as a porcelain painter, as well as at the Académie Humbert, she
became friends with Braque and Picabia. In 1907, she exhibited for the first time at the Salon des Indépendants
alongside Picasso and Derain, thus dabbling in Cubism in her famous
*Groupe d’artistes*, now in the Baltimore Museum. Her fame then grew in France, and later
in Germany. Exiled to Spain during the First World War, she frequented the
Dada scene, though her style proved largely impervious to the influences of those artists. It was during the
interwar period that her career as a society portraitist reached its peak. Her distinctive style
seeks not so much a likeness to the subject as a recognisable mask created by her palette
of flat areas of cool colours. Whilst her portraits are fashionable works, they also express the
search for an eternal femininity.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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