Maurice Utrillo - Rue d'Orchampt, Montmartre.... Lot 713

Maurice Utrillo - Rue d'Orchampt, Montmartre. Gouache on wove paper. 1925. ca. 27 x 33,5 cm. Signed and dated lower left. - Typical representation of the probably most famous painter of the streets of Montmartre - Sovereign use of the color white, which makes him famous - Characteristic use of the figure staffage in back view as symbolic figures In his art Utrillo concentrated early on the representation of Parisian streets and suburbs. He does not depict the boulevards, but focuses on plain streets and poor banlieues. Growing up in Montmartre, Utrillo became probably the best-known painter of the streets of this neighborhood. He combined the orderly composition of house fronts and rows of windows with a simplified, often flat spatial effect reminiscent of theater sets. Trips to Corsica and Brittany in 1912 shed light on his work. He now tries to capture light reflections through a white he mixes himself. He was to become famous for this white, which he mixed with plaster and cement in his paintings. In the present work, too, the color white dominates: it makes the walls of the buildings glow, is reflected in the street, and is found in the bright blue of the sky. Here Utrillo depicts Rue d'Orchampt in Montmartre, an angled street in the heart of the neighborhood. The figure staffage in this gouache is also typical of the artist's works. He depicts the people in a highly simplified, almost stencil-like, back view; stylized inhabitants of Montmartre, symbols of daily life in the quarter. With a photographic expertise by Gilbert Pétridès, Paris, dated 10.6.2004 and two photographic expertise by Jean Fabris, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, dated 9.6.2004 and 12.7.2010. The work will be included by Jean Fabris in the catalog raisonné in preparation. Exhibition: Maurice Utrillo. La collection d'un amateur d'art, Sompo Japan Seiji Togo Museum of Art, Tokyo et al. 2010, cat.-no. 42, with color. Provenance: Hôtel des ventes, Maitre Dupuy, Honfleur 1.1.2005, lot 95; Hôtel des ventes des Lyon Brotteaux, Maitre Anaf, Lyon 11.4.2005, lot 119; Private collection, Monaco; Private collection, Switzerland. Taxation: Differential tax plus 7% VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU)