André Derain (1880-1954) was a founder of the Fauve movement, along
with Matisse and Vlaminck, and he exhibited in the famous Salon
d’Automne, Paris, in 1905. In the Armory Show, Derain was shown with
Vlaminck and the Cubists in Gallery I, rather than with fellow Fauve,
Matisse, in Gallery H.
He had three paintings in the Armory Show, all which were lent by
Parisian art dealer Henry Kahnweiler (who had bought the entire
contents of Derain’s studio in 1907 to grant Derain financial stability).
Two of his paintings were purchased by two of the most important
buyers at the Armory Show, John Quinn and Arthur J. Eddy. Quinn
acquired
Window Overlooking the Park
for $486 (roughly $11,500
today) and it is now part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art,
New York. Eddy purchased
The Forest at Martigues
for $378 (roughly
$9,000 today), now at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Between 1911 and 1914, Derain transitioned from the Fauvist palette he
helped usher in and began to reference early Italian and French
Renaissance artists, as well as primitive sculpture, creating more tightly
controlled compositions with darker, somber colors. For the remainder of
his career, he would continue to move away from his earlier associations
with the Fauves to embrace more traditional renderings. Notwithstanding
this shift in style, Fauve tendencies are evident in early Derain works, such
as the scarce 1910 engraving
Baignuese nue aux Arbres
(lot 116) as well
as the colorful 1945 still life
Bouquet de Fleurs dans un Vase
(lot 118).
