Lot 236

Attributed to Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968): Portrait de Mademoiselle Céline Bal

Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000
Sold for

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$0 $25
$200 $50
$500 $100
$3,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$30,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000

Oil on canvas, 1909, indistinctly signed 'M. Duchamp', titled and dated lower left, lined.

24 x 18 in., 28 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (frame).

Note: This painting was possibly made in Veules-les-Roses, a small seaside village located on the northern coast of France about an hour north of Rouen. The Duchamp family vacationed there during the summer months and it was there that Duchamp seized the opportunity to paint and sketch. During this period, Duchamp's work was influenced by various artistic styles prevalent in France at the time, including Impressionism and the work of Paul Gauguin and his Pont-Aven school. The former seen here in the bright palette and plein-air technique; the latter in the black outlines and division of color that refer to synthétisme and cloisonnism. These same stylistic qualities can be seen in other paintings by Duchamp from the same period. Examples include Portrait of Yvonne Duchamp-Villon, from 1907, now in the collection of the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL; Peonies in a Vase, from 1908, in the Collection Silvia Schwartz Linder and Dennis Linder, Milan; and Seated Nude, from 1908, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The figure in this painting sits on a chair facing the coast, displaying an air of confidence as she turns towards the viewer, her head protected from the sun by a fashionable hat. Her heavy brown coat protects her from the bracing cold air of the northern sea, its abrupt cliffs visible from the beach at Veules-les-Roses. The painting seems to have been made on the boardwalk at Veules, or possibly on the pebble beach below where the wooden pavilion of a casino was standing at the time. Visible in the background are the Aval Cliffs, as well as the tip of the harbor at Sant-Valéry-en-Caux in the distance.

Given the absence of sources and documentation, along with an extensive restoration, this painting cannot be authenticated by the Association Marcel Duchamp in Paris. The provenance cannot be traced back to the artist and the sitter, Céline Bal, has not been identified as a person known to Duchamp at the time the painting was made. For these reasons, the painting is being catalogued as Attributed to Marcel Duchamp.

Property from the Estate of Arthur Brandt

Condition

Lined. Edges of original canvas irregular and visible as they wrap around the stretcher. Some craquelure with scattered areas of inpainting. Not withstanding this report or any discussion concerning condition of a lot, all lots are offered and sold "as is" in accordance with our conditions of sale.