André Derain
Thames Boat, 1906
Ink and crayon
20 x 24 inches
POA
Provenance
André Level, Paris; by descent.
Note: Following the success in 1904 of the exhibition of Claude Monet's paintings of London, Ambrose Vollard, who had just negotiated an exclusivity agreement with Derain, suggested the young artist follow in Monet's footsteps and cross the Chanel. As Monet had before him, Derain focused his creativity around the Thames river, the busy commercial artery twisting trough the heart of the city. The present large scale ink drawing is likely a preparatory work for Derain's London series of paintings, which, as the recent retrospective at Paris's Centre Georges Pompidou testifies, continue to be considered as among the artist's most radical and important works.