3438 - UTRILLO, MAURICE (Paris 1883 – 1955 Dax) *: "Avenue de Versailles and the Eiffel Tower"

UTRILLO, MAURICE (Paris 1883 – 1955 Dax) *: "Avenue de Versailles and the Eiffel Tower" Oil on canvas Signed, dated "Janvier" 1922, and inscribed in the lower right corner 50x65 cm, framed * The hammer price is also subject to VAT. - Provenance: Tabarant family collection, France (acquired directly from the artist); M. Leroux Collection, Paris; Cliché Galerie Bernheim Jeune, Paris; private collection, Switzerland. Exhibitions: Rétrospective Maurice Utrillo V, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, September 18–October 26, 1997; Matsuzakaya Art Museum, Nagoya, October 30–November 18, 1997, and Hiroshima Museum of Art, Hiroshima, November 22–December 28, 1997. Bibliography: Adolphe Tabarant, *Utrillo*, Paris 1926, p. 179 (with illustration); Paul Pétridès, *L’oeuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo*, Paris 1962, vol. 2, p. 360, no. 957 (with illustration on p. 361). The painter Maurice Utrillo gained great fame for his Parisian cityscapes. As the son of the artist Suzanne Valadon (to whom the “V.” in his signature refers), he grew up in the unconventional milieu of Montmartre, which had a decisive influence on his artistic development. After training with Alphonse Quizet, he devoted himself almost exclusively to the streets, squares, and facades of Paris, and in particular to the Montmartre district. His body of work displays a readily recognizable visual language in which melancholic motifs, meticulous attention to architectural detail, and a muted color palette blend together. The work on offer also exhibits a harmony that is typical of Utrillo and masterfully executed. The artist skillfully draws the viewer’s gaze to the Eiffel Tower, which rises majestically above the city’s wintry fog. Bare trees, austere facades, and scattered passersby come together to form a quiet, cold winter scene. Utrillo deliberately used a palette comprising only a few colors, but many shades of gray, brown, and beige. This work is dedicated to Adolphe Tabarant, a Parisian art critic and important patron of Utrillo. Through him, the work made its way—via a fully documented provenance—to Japan, where it was exhibited at the major Utrillo retrospectives in 1997. Auction date: November 6, 2026, 2:15 p.m.