(Bordeaux 1885–1962 Paris)
The hamlet in the valley, 1920, signed A. Lhote, oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm, framed

This work will be included in the catalogue raisonné vol. I currently being compiled by Dominique Bermann Martin and Jean François Aittouarès.

Provenance:
European Private Collection

The works of the French painter André Lhote are characterised by the simplification of form, the dissolution of motifs into predominantly geometric surfaces and the rhythm of his richly coloured compositions. While his early pieces were primarily inspired by Fauvism, his later work was dominated by the Cubist style. The major retrospective of Cézanne’s works at the Salon d’Automne in 1907 had a lasting influence on the young painter, who increasingly turned towards Cubism from around 1912 onwards. In the same year, he was invited by the Cubist artist group “Section d’Or” to exhibit ten of his paintings in their space, which is testament to his pioneering engagement with this trend.

The present painting, The Hamlet in the valley from 1920, was created during Lhote’s artistic zenith, which went hand-in-hand with major international exhibitions in France, Sweden, Belgium and Holland. The painting shows a small hamlet in the valley bottom, with the buildings of the settlement framing the bushes and trees in the middle of the picture. Lhote decodes the landscape into simplistic forms, with the main motif remaining legible despite its abstract structure. He uses visible parallel brushstrokes to create the rhythm of shimmering green surfaces. They do not just capture the movements of his hand: they also seem to reflect the breeze that has caught the heavy branches of the fir and the thin treetops. The nuances of the colours ensure that the complementary contrast between the green and red shades remains suspended in balance.

Lhote’s specific interpretation of Cubism involves his geometrically rhythmic compositions always remaining attached to representationalism. He makes confident use of this new means of design, while maintaining a connection to classical painting through his selection of themes and composition. This attitude - achieving modernity by continuing traditions rather than breaking with them - also shapes his numerous written works and his active work as a teacher. In 1918, he co-founded the art journal “Nouvelle Revue Française”, in which he published articles and art theory on the basics of painting until 1940. Around the same time, Lhote began teaching at various academies before founding the prestigious Académie André Lhote in Montparnasse in 1925. This academy’s best-known students included Tamara de Lempicka and Hans Hartung, as well as the photographers Henry Cartier-Bresson and Dora Maar.