André Derain - Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Wednesday, May 15, 2024 | Phillips

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  • A Restitution Story

     

    André Derain’s Nature morte avec bouteille, circa 1900, and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Village et bord de rivière, circa 1911–1912, are both exceptional examples from the collection of the Reichsman family. A young man growing up in Zagreb, Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia), Franz Reichsman was studying to become a doctor in Vienna. While there, he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned, released two months later to return to Zagreb to take his final exams. Franz then fled to the United States, attempting to convince his family to emigrate from Europe at the onset of World War II – only his sister, Danica, would leave for London. Franz’s father, Dane, avid art collector and patriarch of the family, stayed in Zagreb and attended an exhibition of the Paris school in 1940, purchasing several works including André Derain’s Nature morte avec bouteille, circa 1900, and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Village et bord de rivière, circa 1911–1912.

     

    Dane and Frieda Reichsman.

    Croatia was invaded by the Germans on April 6th, 1941. Just 12 days later, on April 18th, the Yugoslav army surrendered, and Yugoslavia was divided among the Axis powers, forcing the remaining members of the Reichsman family into a concentration camp, their art seized. The German forces soon occupied Western Croatia, and the family was sent to Auschwitz, where they perished in captivity in April 1944. Nearly 80 years later, after being kept in the collection of The National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, Nature morte avec bouteille and Village et bord de rivière were finally returned to their rightful owners, the surviving member of the Reichsman family, Franz’s son, and Dane’s grandson.

     

    The Reichsman Family, circa 1928. Frieda (leftmost), Danica (fourth from left), Franz (center in striped jacket), and Dane (rightmost)

    A rare early career work of Fauvist master André Derain, Nature morte avec bouteille, circa 1900, is a stunning example of the artist’s still life practice. The late 19th century would be a pivotal time during the painter’s life – Derain would meet Henri Matisse and Maurice de Vlaminck within a few years, two artists whom he would go on to found Fauvism with in 1904. The artist’s works from this period, including the present work, reflect the beginnings of a departure from the French academic style, while still highlighting the tenets of the still life tradition.

    Unconventional Still Lifes

     

    The objects on the table of Nature morte avec bouteille come to life through the artist’s use of thickly applied, unconstrained brushstrokes. Not yet adopting the bold colors which characterize Fauvism, the present work uses vibrant yet natural hues of tan, green and blue to render the table and objects in the foreground, while the earthy red used to depict the shadows behind the objects in the upper right hints at a transition away from realism. The table itself is angled in such a way where the objects seem like they are about to slide towards the viewer, recalling the angular compositions of artists like Giorgio de Chirico. A preferred subject amongst artists at the turn of the century, the still life was a basis for which artists could experiment with color, line and texture. Viewing the present work as a precursor to Derain’s Fauvist landscapes begun just four years later, the present work provides a rare look into the early oeuvre of the artist.

     

    Giorgio de Chirico, The Smoothsayer’s Recompense, 1913, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950, 1950-134-38, Artwork: © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome

     

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    • Description

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    • Provenance

      (possibly) Ambroise Vollard, Paris
      Erih Šlomović, Paris
      Dane Reichsman, Zagreb (acquired by 1940)
      Confiscated by the Germans during World War II in 1942 and placed on deposit to The National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
      Restituted to the family of Dane Reichsman in 2023

    • Exhibited

      Zagreb, The Gallery of King Peter I, Francuska Umjetnost: Iz Kolekcije Erih Šlomović, 1940, no. 27, p. 87 (illustrated)

Property Restituted to the Heirs of Dane Reichsman

173

Nature morte avec bouteille

signed "a derain" lower right
oil on canvas
23 5/8 x 21 7/8 in. (60 x 55.6 cm)
Painted circa 1900.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Derain.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$300,000 - 500,000 

Place Advance Bid
Contact Specialist

Annie Dolan
NY Head of Auctions and Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com

Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 15 May 2024