Still life, 1921-1922 by André Derain ::

Details

Date

1921-1922

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

87.2 x 124.5 cm stretcher; 125.5 x 153.5 x 8.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed l.r., black oil "A. Derain". Not dated.

Credit

Purchased 1987

Location

Not on display

Accession number

355.1987

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

André Derain

Works in the collection

3

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About

André Derain took as much pleasure in being retrograde as avant-garde. Once the fiery leader of the fauves, an early champion of primitive art and a contender for modernist pre-eminence, Derain made the first of his many stylistic backflips around 1910. When Picasso and Braque were at their most experimental, he chose to investigate early Renaissance art as exemplified in the classical values of order, harmony and detachment. From the 1920s his work was regarded as conservative by his contemporaries, though it coincided with the 'return to order' that characterised post-war European culture. Derain is now regarded as a postmodernist before the fact. Some of his figural and still life subjects influenced painters in the 1980s. Recalling an altar set with ritual items, Derain presents his simple objects with a sacramental sense of their placement and interrelation.

AGNSW Handbook, 1999.

Exhibition history

Shown in 6 exhibitions

Paintings of the French School from a private collection, Temple Newsam House, England, 27 Jul 1944–27 Aug 1944
Seven decades, 1895-1965: crosscurrents in modern art, Galleria Odyssia, New York, New York, 26 Apr 1966–21 May 1966
Derain, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 19 Aug 1967–17 Sep 1967

Derain, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 30 Sep 1967–05 Nov 1967
Andre Derain Paintings and Drawings, Theo Waddington & Co. Inc., New York, 30 Oct 1981–20 Nov 1981
Favourites: Margaret Olley and Barry Humphries choose from Australian collections (2000), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 15 Jan 2000–27 Feb 2000
Open Studio (brick vase clay cup jug), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 01 Jul 2023–07 Jan 2024

Bibliography

Referenced in 8 publications

Arts Council of Great Britain and Royal Scottish Academy, Derain: an exhibition of paintings, and theatre designs, London, 1967, 67 (illus.). cat.no. 68
Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, Paintings of the French School from a private collection, London, 1944, (illus.). cat.no. 44, plate 22
Terry Ingram, The Australian financial review, 'A Modern Old Master', Sydney, 19 Mar 1987.
Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Western Collection: Paintings and Sculpture', pg. 17-77, Sydney, 1999, 58 (colour illus.).
Terence Maloon, Look, 'Acquisitions: Derain's Antique Inspirations', Heidelberg, Nov 1987, 12-13, 13 (colour illus.).
Margaret Olley and Barry Humphries, Favourites: Margaret Olley and Barry Humphries choose from public and private collections, Sydney, 2000. Catalogue entry appears in inserted list to printed catalogue
Peter Selz, Seven decades 1895-1965: crosscurrents in modern art, California, 1966, 110 (illus.).
Editor Unknown (Editor), The New York Times, 'Theo Waddington', New York, 1981.

Provenance

The provenance of this work is under review and records will be updated as new details become available. The Gallery welcomes any information. Contact provenance@ag.nsw.gov.au

H.J.P. Bomford, circa 1944, Wiltshire/England, by 1944, lent by Bomford to the 1944 exhibition 'Paintings of the French School from a private collection' at Temple Newsam House. Bomford a London stockbroker, moved to Aldbourne, Wiltshire in 1938 purchasing 2000 acres of farmland. His success at farming due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the demand for food enabled him to pursue his interests in buying and selling art.

Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, circa 1967-20 Mar 1987, New York/New York/United States of America, Purchased by the AGNSW from Allan Frumkin Gallery 1987. Lent by Allan Frumkin Gallery to the 1967 exhibitions 'Derain' at the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy.

Still life