Henri Manguin
1874 - 1949 | French
Melon, raisins, poires, maïs et pot bleu
(Melon, grapes, pears, corn and blue pot)
Signed "Manguin" (lower right)
Oil on canvas
Bold color and dramatic brushwork define this Fauvist still life by French artist Henri Manguin. Nicknamed the "indefatigable Manguin" by his friend and fellow Post-Impressionist Henri Matisse, Manguin was a highly significant artist of the Fauvist movement. His experimentation with rich color harmonies and bold brushwork helped define the Post-Impressionist age, and today his works are lauded among the great Fauvist compositions of the period. Melon, raisins, poires, maïs et pot bleu is exemplary of his genius for color. The brilliant blue of the pitcher at the composition's center perfectly complements the greens, oranges and yellows of the fruits surrounding it. The unique perspective of the pictorial frame highlights the bounty on Manguin's tabletop, accentuated by the artist's distinctive vibrant pigments.
Born in Paris in 1874, Manguin studied under the great French Symbolist Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux-Arts. His classmates there included Henri Matisse and Charles Camoin, both of whom remained his close friends and important artistic colleagues throughout his life. Together, the three were highly influenced by the Impressionists and the great minds of the Renaissance, and they would often draw Renaissance-era masterpieces together in the Louvre. After his studies, he traveled extensively around France and frequently exhibited at the Salon des Indépendents. He was part of the infamous Salon d'Automne exhibition of 1905, which marks the birth of the term Fauvism.
Later in life, Manguin moved to the south of France, where he maintained the Fauvist style for which he is known. Today, his works can be found in the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hermitage (St. Petersburg), the Musée d'Orsay (Paris) and the Museum of Modern Art (New York), among many others.
Painted in 1942
Canvas: 21 1/4" high x 29 1/4" wide
Frame: 32 1/8" high x 39 1/2" wide
References:
Henri Manguin: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Neuchâtel, 1980, by L. Manguin and C. Manguin, no. 1408
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Louis Sauty, Avignon, 1943)Maître Bismuth and Philippe de Ricqlès
Drouout Montaigne, Paris, November 21, 1997, lot 131
Hilde Gerst Gallery, New York
Private collection, 2006
M.S. Rau, New Orleans, 2021
