Beschreibung:

λ MARIE LAURENCIN (FRENCH 1883-1956)
L'ESPAGNOLE
Oil on paper laid to canvas, oval
Signed (lower right)
53 x 43cm (20¾ x 16¾ in.)
Provenance:
Peter Meltzer, Canada, Private Collection, where purchased by Count Manfredi della Gherardesca
Exhibited:
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, on loan in memory of Elise and David Meltzer, 1979
This work is recorded in the Marie Laurencin Archives.
Marie Laurencin's exposure to avant-garde movements at the turn of the 20th century in Paris were integral to her artistic development and heavily influenced her journey to find her unique and distinctive style. Her relationship with the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and introduction to Georges Braque Pablo Picasso and important figures of l'ecole de Paris introduced Laurencin to artistic movements such as Cubism and Fauvism. Laurencin rose to prominence in Paris as a notable figure within the Cubist group and exhibited with the Section d'Or at the Salon des Independents in 1910-11. Following this, Laurencin was represented by Paul Rosenberg from 1913-1940.
 
Despite this, Laurencin remained on the periphery of Cubism and Fauvism borrowing elements of stylisation such as simplified lines and segmenting the subject into planes of colour and shapes but with her own interpretation and approach, the image remained realistic and immediately familiar. Her dreamlike colour palettes became integral to her work and this contrasted with piercing eyes conjures an emotional response, melancholic and erotic.
 
Marie Laurencin's ethereal female figure of a Spanish lady fills the oval composition. Her elongated face is balanced by the dramatic head piece which drapes across her forehead. The viewer is immediately struck by the jet-black eyes which penetrate through the canvas. Laurencin has used her distinctive colour palette of muted colours, blue, pink and pastel tones juxtaposed against the bold black lines which appear to represent the figure's mantilla held high upon the head traditionally by a peineta. Laurencin was exiled to Spanish with her husband at the start of the First World War until 1919, it is possible that this period inspired the present lot.
 
By 1920, Laurencin settled back in Paris and rose to prominence as an established portrait painter and illustrator. The strong female figures which sat at the heart of her subject matter were also the driving force behind her art. Laurencin strove to promote creativity and artistic endeavours amongst women in a male dominated society. Laurencin supported the Société des Femmes Artistes Modernes and exhibited with the group on several occasions between 1931-1938.
 
The Marie Laurencin Museum was opened in Japan in 1983 becoming the first museum in the world dedicated to a female painter.
Condition Report:
Oil on paper laid to canvas. Evidence of old craquelure visible to the headdress and background. Ultraviolet light reveals infilling to the craquelure in addition to scattered spots of retouching throughout.
Condition Report Disclaimer