- The Turning Road, L'Estaque
Frame: 58 1/4 × 84 9/16in. (148 × 214.8cm)
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André Derain’s masterpiece The Turning Road, L’Estaque is a major work of the avant-garde art movement called Fauvism. Typical of the vibrantly colorful style of fauves, French for "wild beasts," the canvas glows with intense colors. Flame-colored trees burn red, orange, and blue. Yellow, the color of sunlight, is everywhere.
This monumental landscape represents the French village of L’Estaque, where Paul Cézanne had painted earlier. The painting's title comes from the road that curves through the scene from the lower right. Derain made his way to southern France in 1905, joining Henri Matisse in developing the essential aspects of a new style together. Their freedom from the constraints of expressing the objective world is celebrated in this image. It is a fantasy in color, a place where reality is overrun by the decorative impulse. The Turning Road, L’Estaque serves as a milestone in the brief, yet crucial art-historical movement of Fauvism, which explored the central tenet of Modernist painting: that the strength of a picture has more to do with colors and the kinds of marks made on the surface of the canvas than with serving as a window on the world.
ProvenanceJean Laroche (1866-1935), before 1928 [1], Deauville; [his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, “Tableaux Modernes, Provenant de la Villa ‘Sauge Pourprée’ à Deauville,” December 8, 1928, lot 44] [2]; Robert Blay, Paris, by, at least, 1952 [3]; Mme. Huguette Blay until 1966 [4], [5]; [Arthur Tooth and Sons, London and Galerie Philippe Reichenbach, Paris, until April 1968] [6], [7]; purchased completed by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Beck, Houston, April 1968; gift of Mrs. Audrey Jones Beck to MFAH, 1974.
[1] The name of the collector Léon Brillouin (Sèvres, 1889-New York, 1969), who is known to have owned a smaller version of Derain’s L’Estaque [See Kellermann, Michel. André Derain: Catalogue Raisonné de l’oeuvre peint. Paris: Editions Galerie Schmit, 1992, cat. no. 104, illus., p. 66.], has also been attributed as an owner to the present work [Op. cit., cat. no. 109, illus. p. 69], but this is currently unsubstantiated.
[ 2] An annotated copy of the catalogue notes in red ink: “32.000 M. Delabart.” The relationship between Delabart and Robert Blay is not known. The work was listed in the sales catalogue as “Paysage ensoleillé.” [See copy at The Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY]
[3] In the catalogue for the 1952-1953 traveling exhibition “Les Fauves,” the work is entitled “Turning Road, L’Estaque,” (cat. no. 30, illus., p. 20) and was lent Robert Blay, Paris. See "Les Fauves," [New York: The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 8, 1952-January 4, 1953), Minneapolis Institute of Arts (January 21-February 22, 1953); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (March 13-April 12, 1953); Toronto: The Art Gallery of Toronto (May 1-May 31, 1953), cat. no. 30, p. 40, illus. p. 20.]
[ 4] In a letter dated 5 July 1966 from Bernard Dorival, a curator at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, notes the seller of the painting to Mr. John Beck as “Mme. H[uguette] Blay.” Her exact relationship to Robert Blay is not currently known. The letter states that the export license for the work was denied by the French Minister of Cultural Affairs. [See MFAH object file-accessed by Robert McD. Parker, April 2024]. Mrs. Huguette Blay is also noted as the lender of this work to previous exhibitions, including “Les Fauves” at the Galerie Charpentier, Paris, in 1962 (cat. no. 28).
[5] Léon Brillouin (Sèvres, 1889-New York City, 1969) was once thought to have owned this work; however, he owned a much smaller Derain painting (28 x 36 in.) also entitled “L’Estaque,” which may have resulted in the confusion. There are no known records of Brillouin’s ownership of the present work. According to MFAH documents, the last private collector to have owned the Museum’s painting was, as noted above, Mme. Blay.
[6] The sale of the work was first transacted in June 1966 through Arthur Tooth and Sons, London. An invoice and a receipt for the sale are dated 8 June 1966. [See MFAH object file-accessed by Robert McD. Parker, April 2024]
[7] From 1966 until 1968, the work remained in Europe until the export license was granted through the Galerie Philippe Reichenbach, Paris, and shipped “unframed” on April 24, 1968 to Mr. John A. Beck in Houston. (See additional invoices and shipping papers in MFAH object file-reviewed by Robert McD. Parker, November 2024.)
Exhibition History"Les Fauves," The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1952–1953.
"Derain," Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1955.
"Les Fauves," Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1962.
"Derain," Musée Cantini, Marseilles, 1964.
"Oeuvres choisies de 1900 à nos jours," Galerie Max Kaganovitch, Paris, 1964.
"Fauve - Color," The University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, 1972.
"U.S. Loan Exhibition," National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1971–1973.
"The Collection of John A. and Audrey Jones Beck," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1974.
"The 'Wild Beasts,' Fauvism and Its Affinities," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 24–June 1, 1976; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 29–August 15, 1976; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, September 13–October 31, 1976.
"The Fauve Landscape," Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1991.
"Focus Show: André Derain's 'The Turning Road, L'Estaque," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 5–July 14, 2002.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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