Maurice Utrillo - "Église Saint-Denis de la Chapelle... Lot 707

Maurice Utrillo - "Église Saint-Denis de la Chapelle - Paris". Oil on canvas, wax-doubled. 1933. ca. 92,5 x 60 cm. Signed and dated lower right. Titled lower left. - Characteristic and mature painting style of Maurice Utrillo with typical staffage of people - Representation of the church of Saint-Denis de la Chapelle, important in French history - Right of the portal with the Joan of Arc monument by Félix Charpentier Maurice Utrillo was born in 1883 as the son of the only eighteen-year-old painter Suzanne Valadon in the Parisian artists' quarter Montmartre. Who his father is remains unclear; he receives his last name in 1891 from his adoptive father, the art critic Miquel Utrillo. Encouraged only by his mother, he otherwise found self-taught access to art. He signed his works after his name with an additional "V" for Valadon, the name of his mother. Utrillo found the motifs for his paintings mainly in his immediate surroundings at Montmartre and soon specialized in charming city views. Modern artistic tendencies such as Cubism are not to be found in Utrillo's work; rather, he developed his own characteristic expressive style of painting, which gained international recognition. In 1928 Utrillo was awarded the Order of Merit of the French Legion of Honor. The view of the church Saint-Denis de la Chapelle offered here is an impressive example of that fine colorfulness that characterizes Utrillo's work. The composition gets its specific liveliness from the nuanced color accents in the church facade as well as the Utrillo-typical staffage of people. Saint-Denis de la Chapelle is located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It is located on Rue de la Chapelle, one of the oldest streets in the city in the neighborhood of the same name, La Chapelle. The street has existed since Roman times and runs from the suburb of Saint-Denis to the center of Paris. The site of the church was originally home to a temple of Bacchus, as well as numerous predecessor buildings. The present church building dates back to the 13th century. Legend has it that Joan of Arc spent a night of prayer here in the chapel in 1429. Since 1894, this is commemorated by the cast-iron statue of Joan of Arc by sculptor Félix Charpentier, which Utrillo depicts to the right of the church portal. It was not until 2004 that it was moved to the forecourt of the nearby Basilica of Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, built in 1930. With a photographic expertise by Jean Fabris, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, dated 12.7.2010. The work will be included by Jean Fabris in the catalog raisonné in preparation. Literature: Pétridès, Paul, L'œuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo, vol. III, Paris 1969, no. 1479, fig. p. 79. Exhibition: Maurice Utrillo, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris 1934, label remnants on verso of stretcher; Maurice Utrillo. La collection d'un amateur d'art, Sompo Japan Seiji Togo Museum of Art, Tokyo et al. 2010, cat. no. 54, p. 95, label on verso of frame. Provenance: Collection Galerie Georges Petit, Paris; Gallery F. Doriot, Boston; Veerhoff Galleries, Washington D.C.; Sotheby's, New York 12.11.1987, lot 404; Christie's, London 30.6.1999, lot 228; Private collection, Monaco; Private collection, Switzerland. Taxation: Differential tax plus 7 % VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU)