Auguste Herbin Français, 1882-1960
Le Vieux Pont à Bruges, 1906
Oil on canvas
46 x 55 cm
Signed on the lower left corner
Copyright The Artist
The 1905 exhibition at the Salon des Indépendants, now known as the 'Cage aux fauves', left its mark on the mind of young painter Auguste Herbin, who decided to join...
The 1905 exhibition at the Salon des Indépendants, now known as the "Cage aux fauves", left its mark on the mind of young painter Auguste Herbin, who decided to join Matisse and Derain's group. In 1906, the same year this painting was created, Herbin exhibited with the Fauves at the next Salon des Indépendants.
Le Vieux Pont à Bruges is a masterful example of the artist's short but fundamental period. By joining Fauvism, Herbin forged his first links with the artistic avant-gardes. The quest for color was to fascinate the artist for the rest of his life. Herbin's stay in Bruges in 1906 gave rise to several landscapes in the Cubist vein, with luminous color-forms. In Le Vieux Pont, the forms are devoid of rings, being pure, unmixed color, straight from the tube. The anti-naturalist colors and rapid, dynamic touch are emblematic of this stage.
Le Vieux Pont à Bruges is a masterful example of the artist's short but fundamental period. By joining Fauvism, Herbin forged his first links with the artistic avant-gardes. The quest for color was to fascinate the artist for the rest of his life. Herbin's stay in Bruges in 1906 gave rise to several landscapes in the Cubist vein, with luminous color-forms. In Le Vieux Pont, the forms are devoid of rings, being pure, unmixed color, straight from the tube. The anti-naturalist colors and rapid, dynamic touch are emblematic of this stage.
Provenance
Artist’s studioM. Rheims, Paris
Malborough Fine Art Ltd., London
Collection particulière, Basel
Expositions
Paris 1914, Exposition Auguste Herbin, Galerie Clovis Sagot, 2.–17.3.1914, no. 3.Bern 1963, Auguste Herbin, Kunsthalle Bern, 16.2.–24.3.1963, no. 1 (ill.).
Amsterdam 1963, Herbin, Stedelijk Museum, 7.6.–22.7.1963, no. 2 (ill.).
Zurich 1965, Auguste Herbin, City Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, 2.–30.4.1965, no. 2.
Paris 1975/76, Le Bateau-Lavoir, Musée Jacquemart-André, 31.10.1975–31.1.1976 (étiquette derrière).
Paris 2024, Auguste Herbin (retrospective), Musée de Montmartre, ill.