MAURICE DE VLAMINCK (PARIS, 1876 – RUEIL-LA-GADELIÈRE, 1952) Flowers Circa 1910–1920 Oil on canvas 72 x 53 cm. Signed lower right ‘Vlaminck’ Certificate from the Wildenstein Institute Between sky and earth, between blue and ochre, between an ethereal space and a tangible surface. Whilst for some artists the art of painting bouquets of flowers is an exercise in style, for Vlaminck it is the intense expression of his own artistic vision. Each new composition is conceived as a landscape, crafted as a ‘piece’ of painting. Here, in particular, the background, treated like a washed-out sky, allows light to filter through the clouds. The palette of washed-out blues, which occupies almost the entire canvas as in a Dutch landscape, offers an almost palpable contrast with the wood of this polished table, with its sharply defined outline. Vlaminck plays with effects of depth and texture, revealed by the contrasts in his brushwork, tonalities and lighting. He does not seek to depict a real or even plausible space. The play of shadows here is purely formal, serving to emphasise the colours or define the planes, as in the straight shadow cast by the vase, which ignores its baluster shape. Similarly, the light, although emanating from the left, allows for the dark blue shadow of the vase on the background, which serves no purpose other than to intensify the luminous reflection on the vase, and thereby its volume. But this entire setting, painted in broad strokes, serves as a backdrop for the bouquet, whose flowers and branches burst forth from the rounded body of the vase. Here, the brushwork becomes more refined, precise and detailed. The meticulous detail of the petals and bell-shaped blossoms, the intensity of the bold colours – red, white, green – and the central positioning… all combine to magnify this floral explosion. Once again, Vlaminck succeeds in reimagining the still life as a vibrant and joyful expression. Maurice de Vlaminck (1876–1952) was a self-taught painter of Belgian origin. He first came to prominence in 1905 through his participation in the Salon d’Automne, which caused a scandal. Together with his friends Derain, Matisse and Dufy, he pioneered a new style described by critics as ‘Fauvist’ and characterised by vivid, pure colours applied in broad blocks, with no direct references to the object being painted. Although the movement did not last much beyond the 1910s, Vlaminck’s entire body of work would nevertheless remain imbued with its influence. From 1907 onwards, he discovered the work of Cézanne, which would be his second great revelation and would have a major influence on his landscape compositions. On the other hand, his aversion to Picasso and Cubism set him at odds, during the Second World War, with the Spanish master and with an avant-garde movement of which he had nevertheless been an active member. Vlaminck’s painting is generous and spontaneous. On the fringes of figurative art, his style, with its broad brushstrokes and saturated colours, owes as much to the work of Van Gogh, for his taste for impasto, as it does to that of Cézanne, for his daring spatial constructions.