José María Sert El Invierno o América, project for Las...
José María Sert
Barcelone 1874 - 1945
El Invierno o América, project for Las cuatro estaciones
Oil on panel
59,8 x 93,3 cm ; 23½ by 36¾ in.
Catalogue Note:
Executed between 1917 and 1920, the present work is one of a number of studies Sert completed for his ambitious decorative cycle The Four Seasons, commissioned by British socialite, businessman and polo player Arthur "Boy" Capel. Capel was widely known for his relationship with Coco Chanel between 1909 and 1919, whose muse he became, and it was almost certainly through Chanel that he was introduced to José Maria Sert.
Writing to his sister in 1917, Sert describes the series ‘It is a work that interests and completely absorbs me, and to which I have grown very fond, as I have been given carte blanche and I am making full use of it. In the dining room, there will not be a single architectural line, and neither the doors nor the windows will be visible. When we are in the room, we will not know where we entered or where we can leave, and despite all this, it will not be strange and will seem logical. I would really like to exhibit this one in Spain before installing it.’ (Madrid, Palacio de Velázquez, Parque del Retiro, José María Sert 1874-1945, 1987, p. 88)
Conceived as a grand allegorical cycle, The Four Seasons represented the four continents through the seasons: Europe as Autumn, Asia as Spring, Africa as Summer, and America as Winter. Capel, who died in a car accident, never got to enjoy the commission; it was subsequently installed in the dining room of the Rothschilds’ hunting palace at the Château de Laversine, near Chantilly.
Provenance:
Private Collection, Spain.
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
José María Sert
Barcelone 1874 - 1945
El Invierno o América, project for Las cuatro estaciones
Oil on panel
59,8 x 93,3 cm ; 23½ by 36¾ in.
Catalogue Note:
Executed between 1917 and 1920, the present work is one of a number of studies Sert completed for his ambitious decorative cycle The Four Seasons, commissioned by British socialite, businessman and polo player Arthur "Boy" Capel. Capel was widely known for his relationship with Coco Chanel between 1909 and 1919, whose muse he became, and it was almost certainly through Chanel that he was introduced to José Maria Sert.
Writing to his sister in 1917, Sert describes the series ‘It is a work that interests and completely absorbs me, and to which I have grown very fond, as I have been given carte blanche and I am making full use of it. In the dining room, there will not be a single architectural line, and neither the doors nor the windows will be visible. When we are in the room, we will not know where we entered or where we can leave, and despite all this, it will not be strange and will seem logical. I would really like to exhibit this one in Spain before installing it.’ (Madrid, Palacio de Velázquez, Parque del Retiro, José María Sert 1874-1945, 1987, p. 88)
Conceived as a grand allegorical cycle, The Four Seasons represented the four continents through the seasons: Europe as Autumn, Asia as Spring, Africa as Summer, and America as Winter. Capel, who died in a car accident, never got to enjoy the commission; it was subsequently installed in the dining room of the Rothschilds’ hunting palace at the Château de Laversine, near Chantilly.
Provenance:
Private Collection, Spain.
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
