André Derain, 1880 – 1954

PORTRAIT OF RITA VAN LEER, AROUND 1929 - 1930 Oil on canvas. 73.2 x 92.4 cm. Signed "A Derain" lower right. With older labels verso on stretcher. In ebonized frame with silver molding. A young lady with a white collar and cuffs is reclining on a red-covered bed, protruding into the picture space from the right. The Belgian Rita van Leer, née Aaron, was the second wife of the Dutch art dealer Leonard E. van Leer, who was active in Paris and whom Derain portrayed a total of 14 times between 1929 and 1930, including the present painting (Kellermann 1996, nos. 1185-1195, 1197-1198). André Derain was a French artist. Alongside Henri Matisse (1869-1954), he was the main representative of Fauvism and is considered one of the first painters of classical modernism. For a time, he was regarded as the leading figure of the French avant-garde and was in close contact with the Cubists Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963). Provenance: Paul Guillaume, Paris. Domenica Walter-Guillaume, Paris. Private collection, Alain Bouret. Private collection, Katherine and Sophie Bouret. Literature: Michel Kellerman, André Derain, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, vol. II, no. 1197, Paris 1996, p. 227 with illus. (1402172) (13) André Derain, 1880 - 1954 PORTRAIT OF RITA VAN LEER, CA. 1929 - 1930 Oil on canvas. 73.2 x 92.4 cm. Signed "A. Derain" lower right. Old labels on the back of the stretcher. Provenance: Paul Guillaume, Paris. Domenica Walter-Guillaume, Paris. Private collection Alain Bouret. Katherine and Sophie Bouret. Literature: Michel Kellerman, André Derain, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris 1996, vol. II, no. 1197, p. 227 with illustration.