Kees van Dongen (Delfshaven 1877 - Monte Carlo 1968) Marjorie (c.1931) Signed upper left Oil on canvas, 32.5 x 23.5 cm Provenance: - Kunsthandel Frans Buffa & Zonen, Amsterdam - Collection J.C. Blaupot ten Cate, Middelburg - Auction S.J. Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 8 - 17 March 1960, lot 15 (ill.) - Private collection, the Netherlands Exhibited: - Frans Buffa & Zonen, Amsterdam, Tentoonstelling van nieuwe werken door Kees van Dongen, 12 December 1931 - 10 January 1932, no. 2 - Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Van Dongen, 1877-1937: Eere-tentoonstelling, December 1937 - January 1938, no 71 - Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Kees van Dongen (1877-1968). Elegante lijnen: litho's, pochoirs en schilderijen, 7 December 2002 - 27 April 2003 Note: Registered at the RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague under number 279477. Van Dongen appreciated the brushstroke of the Dutch Old Masters Frans Hals and Rembrandt, but also those of Isaac Israels and George Hendrik Breitner were of great importance to him. The oeuvre of Kees van Dongen is characterized by the expressive use of colour and bright colour contrasts. In 1905 Van Dongen participated in the controversial exhibition Salon d’Automne in Paris. After having been confronted with the bright coloured paintings, art critic Louis Vauxcelles gave the participants the title of ‘Fauves’ (wild beasts). This portrait of ‘Marjorie’, with its strong brush strokes consisting of only three colours (blue, green and red) and her enlarged almond-shaped eyes accentuated with green shadows, is an impeccable exemplification of Van Dongen’s Fauvistic style.