Maurice Denis
Evening Memory I ‒ Laundry Boat at Port Marly

Public Domain

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Artist Maurice Denis (French, 1870–1943)French, 1870–1943

CultureFrench

Titles

Evening Memory I ‒ Laundry Boat at Port Marly

DateApril 1890

PlaceFrance

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsCanvas: 22 × 18 1/4 in. (55.9 × 46.4 cm)
Frame: 27 7/8 × 23 1/4 × 2 5/8 in. (70.6 × 59.1 × 6.7 cm)

Credit LineJohn A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection, museum purchase funded by Audrey Jones Beck

Object number93.207

Current Location

The Audrey Jones Beck Building

225 Beck Galleries

On view

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Department

European Art, Beck Collection

Special Collections

Object Type

PAINTING

ProvenanceRoger Marx (Nancy, France, 1859–Paris, 1913), Paris, acquired from the artist, 1893 [1]; [sold by his estate, Galerie Manzi-Joyant, Paris, “Collection Roger Marx,” 11 May 1914, lot 20, as Crépuscule] [2]; [purchased by Galerie Druet, Paris, 1914, until September 27, 1928] [3]; [Christie's, London, “Impressionist and Modern Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture,” 27 March 1973, no. 26, as Les lavandeuses, illus. in color] [4]; purchased by “Wood,” London [5]; Private Foundation, California, possibly in 1973, by 1993; [sold by the Foundation, Sotheby's, New York, “Impressionist and Modern Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, Part II,” 12 May 1993, lot 136, as Souvenir de Soir I, illus. in color] [6]; purchased by Mrs. Audrey Jones Beck, Houston, 1993; given to MFAH, 1993.

[1] Marx was an art critic and collector. A photo certificate dated 9 March 1993 by Dominique Maurice Denis confirms that the painting appears in the artist’s notebook and is listed as having been sold to Marx in 1893. Translated by George T.M. Shackelford, 16 July 1993, and transcribed. MFAH Object file. (Reviewed by Julia May Boddewyn Sept. 2024).

[2] Druet’s purchase is confirmed in an annotated copy of the sale catalogue, now digitized: https://bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr/viewer/22422/?offset=#page=22&viewer=picture&o=bookmarks&n=0&q= (Accessed by Julia May Boddewyn, 20 August 2024). Lot 20 was sold on the first day of the two-day sale. The gallery’s inventory number for the work, noted on a label on the reverse, is 8253. This is confirmed in the Galerie Druet stockbook, which records the gallery’s purchase from the Marx sale, includes the photograph number: PH 45418, and notes the sale of the painting on 27 September 1928. Buyers’ names are not noted. No. 7801 to 11700, 1909–26 (p. 55); Albert Marquet Research Archives and Galerie Druet Records [ly424yperon7n], The Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc. Digitized: https://digitalprojects.wpi.art/archive/collections/detail?id=482946-may-1914-pages-34-to-35-of-300-nos-8230-to-8255 (Accessed by Julia May Boddewyn, 14, Nov. 2024).

[3] The gallery was founded in 1903 by Alfonse Eugène Druet (1867–1916) and Denis joined his stable in 1913. After Druet’s death, his wife Lucie (dates unknown) inherited the business, which was run by Jos. Hessel and Charles Pacquement. “Galerie Druet,” Bloomsbury Visual Arts. https://www.bloomsburyvisualarts.com/ (Accessed by Julia May Boddewyn, 15 September 2024).

[4] Galerie Druet is the only provenance given. Another Denis painting, Nymphes, formerly in the Marx collection, shares a similar provenance. It was also acquired by Druet from the 1914 sale of the Marx estate. https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/impressionist-modern-art-day-sale-l15007/lot.547.html (Accessed by Julia May Boddewyn, 15 September 2024).

[5] To promote the upcoming sale, Christie’s reproduced the painting in Apollo (March 1973): 28, illus. in b/w. “Wood” has not been identified and may have been an agent acting on behalf of the Foundation.

[6] Detail reproduced on cover of sale catalogue.

Exhibition HistorySalon des Indépendants, Paris, 1891.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscription: Inscribed in blue ink on stretcher, bottom edge, inverted: "Eigendorm: S.U. Doventer. Oberageri" Label (deteriorating) on stretcher top edge: "GALERIE DRUET/ 20, rue Royal, Paris/ 3253" Labeled on frame, top left corner: "3 Sotheby's inventory labels"

Signed and dated in image, lower left corner: "Avril 90" "MAV DENIS" (vertically)

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