(Chatou, 1880- Garches, 1954)
Jeune Garçon Assis ou le Gosse ou Le Gosse Assis, 1922
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right a derain
73 x 60 cm
Provenance :
- Galerie Simon (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler), Paris (label on the back)
- Alfred Flechtheim Gallery, Berlin
- Thannhauser Gallery, Munich (label on the back)
- Allan Frumkin Gallery, New-York
- Ohana Gallery, London (label on the back)
- Motte Gallery, Geneva
- Musée du Petit-Palais, Geneva (acquired from the latter on June 29, 1969)
Exhibitions:
- André Derain, Alfred Flechtheim Gallery, Berlin, April 1929 - Derain, traveling exhibition in the United Kingdom, reproduced in the catalogue under number 71:
. Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, August 19 to September 17, 1967
. London, The Royal Academy, September 30 to November 5, 1967
- Die Gesellschaftliche wirklichkeit der Kinder in der Bildensen Kunst, Staatichen Kunsthalle, Berlin, from February 16, 1979 to February 10, 1980, under the number 245
- André Derain, traveling exhibition in Japan, reproduced in the catalogue on p. 50 under n ° 19:
. Takashimaya Art Gallery, Tokyo, April 9 to May 5, 1981
. Takashimaya Art Gallery, Osaka, May 7-19, 1981
. Takashimaya Art Gallery, Kyoto, May 21 to June 7, 1981
. Nagoya City Museum, Nagoya, from June 12 to July 5, 1981
- André Derain, traveling exhibition in Japan, reproduced in the catalogue under number 15:
. Daimaru Art Museum, Osaka, September 20 to October 1, 1995
. Daimaru Art Museum, Tokyo, October 26 to November 7, 1995
. Daimaru Art Museum, Kyoto, December 31, 1995 to January 23, 1996
- André Derain, traveling exhibition in Spain and Switzerland (label on the back), described in the catalogue on p. 213 and reproduced in color on p. 191:
. Valencia Institute of Modern Art (IVAM), Valencia, from December 12, 2002 to February 23, 2003
. Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, from March 14 to June 9, 2003 (label on the back)
- The School of Paris: Between primitivisms and nostalgia, traveling exhibition in Japan, described and reproduced in the catalogue under n ° 49 on p. 129:
. Okazaki, Okasaki City Museum, June 3 to July 30, 2006
. Kumamoto, Prefectural Museum of Art, August 4 to October 9, 2006
. Hyogo, prefectural Museum of Art, from October 18 to December 17, 2006
- Réalisme, la symphonie des contraires, Pierre Arnaud Foundation, Lens, Switzerland, from December 20, 2014 to April 19, 2015, reproduced in the catalogue at p. 143
- Anders Osterlind, la force du paysage, Musée de la Vallée de la Creuse, Éguzon, May 28 to November 17, 2023
Selective bibliography:
- Der Querschnitt durch, artistic journal created by Alfred Flechtheim and published between 1921 and 1933 in the form of a directory, reproduced in 1922 at p. 175
- Der Cicerone, halbmonatsschrift für Künstler, Kunstfreunde und Sammler / Herausgeber Georg Biermann, art review from 1909 to 1930, Leipzig, reproduced in issue XV of 1923 on p. 220
- Kunst und Künstler XXI, illustrated monthly magazine of visual arts and crafts, Berlin, 1923, reproduced on p. 144
- André Derain by Elie Faure, Éditions G. Crès & Cie, Paris, 1923, reproduced pl. 25
- André Derain by André Salmon, Les Peintres Français Nouveaux collection published under the direction of Roger Allard, n ° 15, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française, Paris, 1924, reproduced on p. 61
- Michel Kellermann, André Derain : Catalogue Raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Volume II. 1915-1934, Galerie Schmit Editions, Paris, 1996, described and reproduced on p. 143 under n ° 889
From the war front, André Derain wrote to Maurice de Vlaminck, in 1917: "I make pictures in imagination only. I would like to do only portrait, real portrait, with hands, hair: what a lifetime! "After the First World War, Derain felt the need to return to a tradition and a reinterpretation of the classic ideal, also called" Retour à l'ordre ". He concentrates on subjects and themes which echo the works of the museums which he assiduously attends. The Sienese painters of the 13th and 14th centuries, the paintings of Cranach, the works of Corot are for him multiple sources of inspiration. Derain abandoned landscapes and still lifes for a time to devote himself to portraits. In the first half of the 1920s, Derain produced around fifty oil portraits.
Our painting, Le Gosse Assis produced by the artist in 1922 is a fine example of his pictorial work of the time. Derain places the young boy at the center of the composition in austere tones. The palette is limited to shades of brown, copper and dark blue which he shades to create his model. The decor is almost nonexistent. Light whose source is invisible, gently illuminates the face of the child whose face seems serious and pensive.