Maurice Utrillo (1883 Paris - Dax 1955)

Maurice Utrillo (1883 Paris - Dax 1955), Rue à Montmartre. Gouache and watercolor on laid paper, laid on cardboard around the edge. 1926. ca. 48,5 x 60 cm. Signed, dated and inscribed "Janvier" lower left, with a dedication to Henri Massart lower right. - Utrillo shows not boulevards and monuments of Paris, but simple houses and winding streets - The combination of house fronts and figure staffage reminiscent of theatrical backdrops - Color-fresh representation with bright blue and red tones Already at a young age Utrillo begins to depict cityscapes. He devoted his eventful life to painting his beloved neighborhood of Montmartre, the winding, narrow streets that had become the most important artistic center of Paris in the early 19th century. Throughout his career, Utrillo repeatedly painted the streets of Montmartre from different angles and in great detail, rarely focusing on important monuments and buildings. He combines the orderly composition of house fronts and rows of windows with a simplified, often flat spatial effect reminiscent of theater sets. The strollers are mostly schematic back figures. They appear in his paintings again and again as staffage, as in our painting, where they enliven the wintry scenery. Sabarsky, Serge (ed.), Graphik des deutschen Expressionismus, Stuttgart/Munich 1991, cat. no. 77, p. 247, with col. Ill. p. 114. Taxation: Differential tax plus 7% (VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU)).