Kees VAN DONGEN (1877-1968) Dutch

Femme debout dans un jardin (Taale), circa 1912-1913 Signed 'Van Dongen' (lower centre) and inscribed 'Taale' (on the stretcher) Oil on canvas - Huile sur toile 100 x 81 cm - 39.4 x 31.9 in. AED 2,938,000 -3,673,000 Provenance Odilon Redon, acquired directly from the artist (1914) Private collection By descent from the above Anon. sale: Sotheby's, London, Impressionist and Modern Art, June 25, 2002, lot 183 Private collection, Europe Exhibited Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, All Eyes on Kees Van Dongen, Sept. 18, 2010-Jan. 23, 2011, ill. in colour p. 65 Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Fauve anarchiste et mondain, March 25- July 17, 2011 Literature This work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue raisonné being prepared by Jacques Chalom des Cordes, under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute Public notes In 1913 Van Dongen visited Egypt, and the ancient monuments he saw contributed to an increasing decorativeness in his own art. The works he brought back from Egypt were met with an enthusiastic welcome. In 1914, Odilon Redon, then 73 years of age (and an artist Van Dongen admired immensely), accepted an invitation to visit his studio. It transpired that Redon had long had an appreciative eye for Van Dongen's painting and had drawn other people's attention to his work. Impressed by what he saw, he asked the artist if he could buy one of his paintings. The present artwork, Femme debout dans un jardin (Taale) is the very painting Redon chose to purchase from Van Dongen's studio and one of the very few paintings coming from other artists to be owned by Redon.