Dating from his celebrated White Period, Rue à Montmartre is a superlative example of Utrillo working at the height of his artistic powers. It was at this t.mes that Utrillo’s realistic views of Montmartre first won him recognition from critics, dealers and collects ors. The White Period, or Periode Blanche (approximately 1909-1914), is so called for the preponderance of white stucco which covered the edifices of Montmartre and Utrillo’s canvases, yet as Adolphe Tabarant notes, “At this t.mes Utrillo uses a palette of many whites, but these never become chalky or dull. He surrounds them with soft greys, delicate pinks, deep blues, or else contrasts them with sonorous browns and blacks” (Adolphe Tabarant, Utrillo, Paris, 1926). Rue à Montmartre balances orange and red tones against complimentary blues and green, while imbuing the whites with an unmatched richness and texture.

While Utrillo’s paintings are unmistakably naturalistic, they are also inward-looking - the empty streets of Montmartre a reflection of the loneliness Utrillo experienced as a depressive and alcoholic. Similarities in the tonal modulation and mood can be found in the work of contemporary artist Adrian Ghenie. “One thing is certain” commented Magda Radu of Ghenie’s work, “The paintings of Adrian Ghenie do not allude to a world beyond (a window into another reality) but are about the world within, about the monad and the personal emotions of an inflected consciousness” (quoted in Adrian Ghenie: Darwin’s Room (exhibition catalogue), Biennale de Venezia, Romanian Pavilion, Venice, 2015, pp. 82-83).