Albert Marquet Lot n° 710

Albert Marquet - "Femme assise". Oil on canvas. (1896). Approx. 81 x 59,5 cm. With signature stamp lower right. Titled and inscribed "Bx Arts" (for Beaux Arts) on the verso of the canvas. - Painted during the artist's academy period in Paris - Work associated with Naturalism, foreshadowing the artist's later development into Fauvism - Female nude that could only have been created in a private setting The hands reddened from work, the forearms lightly tanned where the sun could reach the skin while working outdoors: Marquet is clearly painting a working-class woman here. The artist accurately captures his model, faithfully depicting the heavy breasts, but also the slender waist. The poverty of the figure is reflected in the artist's simple studio: an iron stove, a small wicker chair, and simple clothing hanging on hooks in the background, no more furnishings are visible. Marquet studied with his good friend Henri Matisse at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Gustave Moreau from 1894 and until 1898. Here, nude painting is an important part of the training. However, women were not allowed to work as models in the art academies at this time. Thus, the female nudes are forcibly created in the living rooms of the artists. The present nude is here still completely under the aesthetics of realism. The influence of Fantin-Latour can also be felt in the broad brushstrokes, the plain background and the soft, light incarnate matter. However, color accents such as the red dabs on the hand or the yellow chair leg show Marquet's understanding of color and foreshadow his later development into Fauvism. Verso on the stretcher old label "M 19 Albert Marquet Embarcadère à Triel" as well as shipping label and various inscriptions. Christie's writes in 2011 that the work will be included by the Wildenstein Institute in the catalog of the works of Albert Marquet, which is in preparation. Exhibition: Marquet, Musée de Lodève, Hôtel du Cardinal de Fleury, Lodève 1998, cat. no. 4, with col. Fig. p. 69 (with the title "Nu au poêle"). Provenance: estate of the artist, by succession to Marcelle Marquet (1892-1984), Paris (wife of the artist); private collection, France; Christie's, London 11.2.2011, lot 83; private collection, Bavaria. Taxation: differential taxed VAT: Margin Scheme