Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (1880-1958)
'Soir sur la plage de Sanur' / Evening on Sanur Beach
signed 'J. Le Mayeur' (lower left); numbered and titled 'No 13 / Soir sur la / plage de Senoer / (2000)' (written on the reverse)
oil on canvas, 45,5x55 cm
Exhibited: -Hoorn, Westfries Museum, 'Indisch Palet, de kunst van het verzamelen', 10 February-10 June 2019.
Literature:
-Bea Brommer (Ed.), Koos van Brakel, Bruce W. Carpenter, Evert J.M. Douwes, Ruud Spruit, 'The Art of Collecting, East Indies paintings', Volendam 2019, ill. no. 138, p. 152, as: 'Soir sur la Plage de Sanur [Evening on Sanur Beach] 1933-1935'.
Provenance: -Collection Colauto-van Peperstraten, the Netherlands.
Please compare this painting with ill. 176, p. 116 in the book of: Jop Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing, 'Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès Painter-Traveller/Schilder-Reiziger', Wijk en Aalburg 1995, for a similar composition which is to be dated in the late thirties.
At Venduehuis Auctioneers The Hague a somewhat bigger painting from the same period was sold, also with two resting Balinese beauties on the beach, adorned with flowers and parasol. (Ubbens/Huizing, ill. 208, p. 138).
'Soir sur la plage de Sanur', Evening on Sanur Beach, depicts two Balinese women relaxing at Sanur beach against a bright sky. The pastel tones Le Mayeur used when painting this scene in various shades of soft blue, orange, pink and yellow are reminiscent of his impressionist roots. The result is an idyllic image of a Balinese seascape shrouded in rapturous sunlight.
Born in 1880 in Belgium from a wealthy noble family, Le Mayeur’s curiousity about Bali was aroused when in Tahiti he saw a film about this island. After his first brief visit late in 1929, the ‘island of gods’ was to leave an indelible impression on him. He went back in 1932. Bali was to become a rich source of inspiration for Le Mayeur. He devoted himself to the task of depicting his immediate surroundings: the Balinese people, the luxuriant flora, the beach, the sea, usually bathed in exuberant sunlight. Only in a brief period of time he had enough works for a first exhibition, in Singapore. The reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Le Mayeur and his work. They write: ‘With the Bali girls as subject, he has succeeded in capturing the sunny spirit of subject and scene. His technique is simple but effective, he indicates every essential without going into detail. His colouring is brilliantly effective, and he captures the brightness and colourfulness of the tropical scene with the minimum of effort’. Most of the purchasers were Europeans and Americans, some inhabitants of Singapore.
Le Mayeur prefers to take his easel out into the light and air rather than to work in a studio, making his work exhale the rich breath of the tropical exterior. In a post-war interview Le Mayeur describes why he never left the island: ‘Why should I? I am an impressionist. There are three things in life I love: beauty, sunlight and silence. Tell me where to find these in a more perfect state than in Bali?’. In 1935 he married his favourite model Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik, also known as Ni Pollok. He bought a cottage by Sanur beach, and created a perfect environment for his art to florish: a sun drenched tropical house with a lush garden. In this little world he had created on a few square metres of beach, separating the endless space of ocean from a huge ricefield and palm forest, he was perfectly happy. He found all his themes in the immediate proximity of his home.
Source: J. Ubbens, C. Huizing, ‘Adrien-Jean le Mayeur de Merprés, Painter-Traveller / Schilder-reiziger’, Wijk en Aalburg 1995.
The present lot is authenticated by Jop Ubbens and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
This work will be included in the Le Mayeur Archive (LMA).
For this artist resale right is applicable from € 2400 hammer price onwards
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
'Soir sur la plage de Sanur' / Evening on Sanur Beach
signed 'J. Le Mayeur' (lower left); numbered and titled 'No 13 / Soir sur la / plage de Senoer / (2000)' (written on the reverse)
oil on canvas, 45,5x55 cm
Exhibited: -Hoorn, Westfries Museum, 'Indisch Palet, de kunst van het verzamelen', 10 February-10 June 2019.
Literature:
-Bea Brommer (Ed.), Koos van Brakel, Bruce W. Carpenter, Evert J.M. Douwes, Ruud Spruit, 'The Art of Collecting, East Indies paintings', Volendam 2019, ill. no. 138, p. 152, as: 'Soir sur la Plage de Sanur [Evening on Sanur Beach] 1933-1935'.
Provenance: -Collection Colauto-van Peperstraten, the Netherlands.
Please compare this painting with ill. 176, p. 116 in the book of: Jop Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing, 'Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès Painter-Traveller/Schilder-Reiziger', Wijk en Aalburg 1995, for a similar composition which is to be dated in the late thirties.
At Venduehuis Auctioneers The Hague a somewhat bigger painting from the same period was sold, also with two resting Balinese beauties on the beach, adorned with flowers and parasol. (Ubbens/Huizing, ill. 208, p. 138).
'Soir sur la plage de Sanur', Evening on Sanur Beach, depicts two Balinese women relaxing at Sanur beach against a bright sky. The pastel tones Le Mayeur used when painting this scene in various shades of soft blue, orange, pink and yellow are reminiscent of his impressionist roots. The result is an idyllic image of a Balinese seascape shrouded in rapturous sunlight.
Born in 1880 in Belgium from a wealthy noble family, Le Mayeur’s curiousity about Bali was aroused when in Tahiti he saw a film about this island. After his first brief visit late in 1929, the ‘island of gods’ was to leave an indelible impression on him. He went back in 1932. Bali was to become a rich source of inspiration for Le Mayeur. He devoted himself to the task of depicting his immediate surroundings: the Balinese people, the luxuriant flora, the beach, the sea, usually bathed in exuberant sunlight. Only in a brief period of time he had enough works for a first exhibition, in Singapore. The reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Le Mayeur and his work. They write: ‘With the Bali girls as subject, he has succeeded in capturing the sunny spirit of subject and scene. His technique is simple but effective, he indicates every essential without going into detail. His colouring is brilliantly effective, and he captures the brightness and colourfulness of the tropical scene with the minimum of effort’. Most of the purchasers were Europeans and Americans, some inhabitants of Singapore.
Le Mayeur prefers to take his easel out into the light and air rather than to work in a studio, making his work exhale the rich breath of the tropical exterior. In a post-war interview Le Mayeur describes why he never left the island: ‘Why should I? I am an impressionist. There are three things in life I love: beauty, sunlight and silence. Tell me where to find these in a more perfect state than in Bali?’. In 1935 he married his favourite model Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik, also known as Ni Pollok. He bought a cottage by Sanur beach, and created a perfect environment for his art to florish: a sun drenched tropical house with a lush garden. In this little world he had created on a few square metres of beach, separating the endless space of ocean from a huge ricefield and palm forest, he was perfectly happy. He found all his themes in the immediate proximity of his home.
Source: J. Ubbens, C. Huizing, ‘Adrien-Jean le Mayeur de Merprés, Painter-Traveller / Schilder-reiziger’, Wijk en Aalburg 1995.
The present lot is authenticated by Jop Ubbens and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
This work will be included in the Le Mayeur Archive (LMA).
For this artist resale right is applicable from € 2400 hammer price onwards
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
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