Press article : Mela Muter, figure of Montparnasse - Nice Matin
Mela Muter, figure of Montparnasse - Nice Matin
- 7/28/24
- Paintings
Pêcheurs dans le port de Collioure
For its next summer sale, entitled "Art Passion", to be held on August 15th at Hôtel Martinez, Besch Cannes Auction will be showcasing the most representative artists from some of the main trends of the 20th century. Among the star works is "Fishermen in the port of Collioure" by Mela Muter (1876-1967), estimated at between 70000 and 80000€. Real named Maria Melania Kingsland, this Polish-born artist became an important figure in Montparnasse and Parisian artistic life at the turn of the 20th century. Influenced by Symbolism, she then turned to Expressionist art, favouring bright or light colours, giving light and gaiety to her compositions, as shown in "Fishermen in the port of Collioure". Noticed by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, the young painter exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Tuileries, and chose her models from among her friends : the musicians Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel, and the writer Henri Barbusse. Separated from her husband, the journalist Michal Muttermilch, and after the death in 1920 of her partner Raymond Lefebvre, in 1925 she began an affair with Rainer Maria Rilke, who dedicated poems to her and sent her several letters. Their affair lasted until Rilke's death in 1926.
Marie Mela Muter (1876-1967) - "Pêcheurs dans le port de Collioure"
Oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm
Estimate : 70000 - 80000€
Mela Muter is currently ranked 333rd in the world art market, and her most emblematic paintings can fetch hundreds of thousands of euros. Other exceptional works in the auction catalogue include "Rosalba" by Georges Rouault (1871-1958). Estimated at between 40000 and 50000€, the painting came from the artist's studio and has remained in his family to this day. There is also a superb "horloge à la langue" by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), estimated at between 26000 and 30000€, of which only 20 were made, a silver plate weighing 2,3 kilos produced by Pierre Hugo (1947), great-great-grandson of Victor Hugo and a goldsmith of international renown. Paintings by Maurice de Vlaminck, Armand Guillaumin, Eugène Boudin, Léopold Survage, Maurice Utrillo and Niki de Saint-Phalle, among others, will round out this fine collection. Some of these lots will be on display at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes from August 13th.
NICE MATIN of July 28th, 2024 - Page Art & Enchères - Laurence Guidicelli
