MELA MUTER (1876-1967) Le sculpteur François Pompon dans son atelier (Painted circa 1925)
MELA MUTER (1876-1967)
Le sculpteur François Pompon dans son atelier
oil on canvas
81 x 64.8cm (31 7/8 x 25 1/2in).
Painted circa 1925
Footnotes:
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Urszula Lazowski.
Provenance
Gérald Schurr Collection, Paris.
Leicester Galleries (Peter Nahum), London.
Private collection, UK.
Private collection, UK (by descent from the above).
Exhibited
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Centre Culturel Arturo Lopez, Portraits et autoportraits de la Collection Gérald Schurr, 16 April - 5 May 1986, no. 58 (dated circa 1910).
Literature
G. Schurr, Les petits maîtres de la peinture de valeur de demain, Vol. V, Paris, 1981 (illustrated p. 28; dated circa 1910).
Mela Muter, born Maria Melania Mutermilch, was a Polish-Jewish artist who settled in Paris in 1901 and became a distinctive figure within the École de Paris. Her expressive, psychologically charged portraits combined a Slavic sensibility with the cosmopolitan culture of her adopted home. In Le sculpteur François Pompon dans son atelier, this sensitivity is directed towards a fellow artist, whom she depicts absorbed in thought within his studio. Seen from just inside the doorway, Pompon sits at a modest table, while a pristine white cockerel, Coq, 1914, rests on a stool before him. A hammer suggests a work in progress, while the sculptures surrounding him provide an intimate insight into his practice.
Muter's earthy palette of ochres, browns, deep reds and soft whites conveys the warmth of the atelier, enlivened by bold contours and assured brushwork. The simplified animal sculptures anticipate the essentialist language for which Pompon became renowned. Trained under Pierre Louis Rouillard and later working in Auguste Rodin's studio, Pompon devoted himself exclusively to animals after 1905, seeking, in his own words, 'the essential'. The work was formerly in the collection of Gérald Schurr, the French critic and collector whose celebrated collection of portraits of artists and writers included the present work in his Portraits et Autoportraits, published in connection with an exhibition in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1986. Here, Muter captures not simply the sculptor, but the quiet concentration and solitude of artistic creation.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR
AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Condition
The canvas is unlined. Examination under Ultra-Violet light reveals some fluorescence to the varnish and artist's pigment in a few places, and some small, sensitive spots of retouching to the cockerel and table edge, with a few possible spots scattered elsewhere, mainly to the edges.There is very mild frame rubbing to the outer edges. A few tiny possible paint losses in places, highly discreet due to the artist's method. There are a couple of discreet lines of hairline craquelure to the cockerel, with one or two scattered elsewhere. One or two small minor surface scuffs. Mild surface dirt is present in places.In our opinion, the work is in overall very good condition and presents excellently.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
MELA MUTER (1876-1967)
Le sculpteur François Pompon dans son atelier
oil on canvas
81 x 64.8cm (31 7/8 x 25 1/2in).
Painted circa 1925
Footnotes:
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Urszula Lazowski.
Provenance
Gérald Schurr Collection, Paris.
Leicester Galleries (Peter Nahum), London.
Private collection, UK.
Private collection, UK (by descent from the above).
Exhibited
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Centre Culturel Arturo Lopez, Portraits et autoportraits de la Collection Gérald Schurr, 16 April - 5 May 1986, no. 58 (dated circa 1910).
Literature
G. Schurr, Les petits maîtres de la peinture de valeur de demain, Vol. V, Paris, 1981 (illustrated p. 28; dated circa 1910).
Mela Muter, born Maria Melania Mutermilch, was a Polish-Jewish artist who settled in Paris in 1901 and became a distinctive figure within the École de Paris. Her expressive, psychologically charged portraits combined a Slavic sensibility with the cosmopolitan culture of her adopted home. In Le sculpteur François Pompon dans son atelier, this sensitivity is directed towards a fellow artist, whom she depicts absorbed in thought within his studio. Seen from just inside the doorway, Pompon sits at a modest table, while a pristine white cockerel, Coq, 1914, rests on a stool before him. A hammer suggests a work in progress, while the sculptures surrounding him provide an intimate insight into his practice.
Muter's earthy palette of ochres, browns, deep reds and soft whites conveys the warmth of the atelier, enlivened by bold contours and assured brushwork. The simplified animal sculptures anticipate the essentialist language for which Pompon became renowned. Trained under Pierre Louis Rouillard and later working in Auguste Rodin's studio, Pompon devoted himself exclusively to animals after 1905, seeking, in his own words, 'the essential'. The work was formerly in the collection of Gérald Schurr, the French critic and collector whose celebrated collection of portraits of artists and writers included the present work in his Portraits et Autoportraits, published in connection with an exhibition in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1986. Here, Muter captures not simply the sculptor, but the quiet concentration and solitude of artistic creation.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR
AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Condition
The canvas is unlined. Examination under Ultra-Violet light reveals some fluorescence to the varnish and artist's pigment in a few places, and some small, sensitive spots of retouching to the cockerel and table edge, with a few possible spots scattered elsewhere, mainly to the edges.There is very mild frame rubbing to the outer edges. A few tiny possible paint losses in places, highly discreet due to the artist's method. There are a couple of discreet lines of hairline craquelure to the cockerel, with one or two scattered elsewhere. One or two small minor surface scuffs. Mild surface dirt is present in places.In our opinion, the work is in overall very good condition and presents excellently.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
