Lot 117 D

In the 1920s and 1930s, André Derain's work was defined by still lifes of fruit and flowers - some with a precision and abundance reminiscent of the old masters, some with a meditative simplicity. In both cases the artist placed the focus entirely on the physical presence of the depicted objects. “La peinture ne peut prétendre à une autre ressemblance. La forme doit renseigner sur la fonction. Rien à chercher au-delà des sens. La même règle s'applique aux bêtes et aux plantes. […] Derain ne met en cause que la vie physique. La science la plus captivante est l'histoire naturelle,” is what André Breton had already written in 1924 regarding Derain's concept of painting (André Derain, exhib. cat., Villa Medici, Rom/Grand Palais, Paris 1976/77, p. 19).
The work presented here featuring the depiction of a small bouquet of chrysanthemums in a clay jug has been reduced to this single subject, which has been placed in the middle of the picture. Derain has concentrated on the natural and simple beauty of the flowers, which are provided with a stage by the golden brown of the surrounding space. Only through the light contour lines and nuances do the forms of the handled jar and the little table emerge out of the monochrome ground. The background is left as a unified, undefined plane which brings out the sculptural quality of the delicate white and rusty-red petals.