$30,750
Louis Valtat (French, 1869-1952) Fleurs Variées Signed "L. V." l.l., dated "1904" on a presentation plaque and on a label from the Galerie Charpentier, Paris, on the reverse. Oil on paper mounted to panel, 16 1/4 x 20 in. (41.3 x 50.9 cm), framed. Condition: Minor surface grime. Provenance: By descent to the current New Jersey estate. N.B. Valtat was born in the small Normandy town of Dieppe in 1869 into a wealthy family of ship owners. Supported by his father, an amateur landscape painter, Valtat attended the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian. As a young artist, Valtat was influenced by Gauguin's synthetist method of painting, which aspired to subjectively combine natural forms with pure lines, colors, and form. He was also inspired by Paul Signac's pointillist technique-the application of pure color dots on the canvas surface-as he had the opportunity to study with the artist when he visited him in Saint-Tropez for a summer, most probably in 1903. In many ways, Valtat had been already working in the Fauvist style before the movement burst onto the Parisian art scene with the 1905 presentation at the Salon d'Automne. His simplified forms and bold colors coincided exactly with the work of Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Andre Derain, and Maurice Vlaminck. Exhibiting with these artists, Valtat was caught up in the scandal and success of the Fauvist movement. This particular painting depicts one of Valtat's favorite subjects: flowers. He was an en
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2016-05-13
