English Notes André LHOTE 1885-1962 LE PORT DE BORDEAUX, 1912 Born in 1885 in Bordeaux, André Lhote entered the studio of a furniture maker at age 12 to learn sculpture in wood. In 1905, he abandoned sculpture for painting, and two years later in 1907, he participated in the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants. His first one-man show was held at Druet's gallery in 1910. Charles Morice, a friend of Verlaine and Gauguin, wrote the preface to the catalogue: “Lhote brings to his observations of life a passion rooted in his inner life, and this intimate ardor augurs great things. He is developing fast.” Charles Morice's predictions, as well as those of André Gide, André Salmon, Jacques Rivière, and Alain Fournier, became a reality in experiments that would lead Lhote to Cubism. In 1912, he participated in the myth-making Section d'Or exhibit rue la Boétie that brought together the fathers of modern art - Gleizes, Villon, Duchamp, Metzinger, Picabia, La Fresnaye, and others. Lhote exhibited about ten paintings of various subjects, including a Port de Bordeaux. Between 1912 and 1914, he executed several versions of the Bordeaux harbor landscape that became part of prestigious collections, such as that of HRH Prince Eugène in Stockholm, the collector Roger Fry in London, Jean Dolgouffre in Brussels, and van der Schalk in Amsterdam. The city of Bordeaux continued to inspire the painter for a mural piece, three large panels entitled Gloire de Bordeaux to be installed in the faculty of medicine in his native town. Literature : Alexandre Mercereau, Quelques peintres, André Lhote, Chez J. Povolozky, 1921; October-November 1981, Paris, Artcurial, André Lhote, Rétrospective.