ANDRÉ DERAIN | PICHET, VERRE ET COUPE DE FRUITS

Palais Galliera, Paris, 3 December 1972, Lot 113

David B. Findlay Galleries, New York

Private Collection, Geneva

Private Collection, France

Sotheby's, London, 9 February 2011, Lot 269

Private Collection, London (acquired at the above sale)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Michel Kellermann, André Derain, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint: 1935-1954, vol. III, Paris 1999, no. 1659, p. 82, illustrated

Derain explored past traditions in his mature work and there is an element of the Baroque in his somber post-war still lifes, in which fluid, calligraphic white outlines are often used on a dark ground. The linear nature of the highlights in the present work and the stark contrasts of black and white are notable and speak of Derain's belief that the definition of lit surfaces was central to drawing, and that light was a physical manifestation of the spirit.