Maurice Utrillo (1881-1953) - The white period at M.A.K. Galerie

To understand this enthusiasm, let's go back to 1912. Octave Mirbeau, encouraged by Francis Jourdain, enters Louis Libaude's shop at no. 7 avenue Trudaine. Faced with an aesthetic shock, he became the first assiduous collector of works from Maurice Utrillo's White Period, and wrote:

"All this Montmartre is becoming to me, through your painter [Utrillo], of infinite originality. No one, yes, no one has painted the street, the little stores, the humble hotels, the spindly trees like he has. And those skies - Mirbeau added, coming over to touch them with his hand, maternally - are they vast, gentle, deep, merciful and consoling! [...] My dear Francis, you have found the rare bird!" (quoted from Gustave Coquiot, Maurice Utrillo V., Paris, 1925, p. 57-59)

1912 - The Rue du Mont-Cenis

It's January's showcase on Avenue Matignon.

This is a large-format "postcard" of Montmartre. If it's white, it's not because Maurice Utrillo depicted it as snow-covered, but because he introduced material effects using a very personal technique. He enriched his colors with cement, chalk, plaster...; he literally "masoned" the walls he represented, in a desire to recreate the atmosphere of the streets of his beloved Montmartre.

The painting, which has had an extraordinary career, is reproduced in the various catalogs raisonnés of the artist's work. Louis Libaude, arguably the artist's first dealer, jealously guarded it for himself. When the painting came back on the market, on the occasion of the sale of the Libaude collection, bids soared and the Bernheim brothers won the bid.

In 1932, it was resold. The Gazette Drouot couldn't believe it: among the Chagalls, Derains, Marquets, Matisse, Modiglianis, Picassos... "it was a canvas by Utrillo (no. 80), La Rue du Mont Cenis à Montmartre, that fetched the highest price". By 1956, the English had given up. The painting went to the Marlborough Gallery in London.

A Utrillo exhibition at M.A.K. Galerie, December2024-February 2025

• To be read
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A visit to the M.A.K. gallery will reveal not only paintings, but also works on paper (drawings, pastels and gouaches), exceptional reminders of pre-World War II Montmartre.

And for those who don't yet know Avenue Matignon and its neighborhood, you'll learn about the importance of this art market mecca, where the Ecole de Paris developed thanks to the installation of the most prestigious specialized galleries throughout the 20th century.

This is what has enabled Paris to be the Capital of the Arts for so many years.

M.A.K galerie is located opposite the former Bernheim-jeune gallery, now Sotheby's France, in the place to be!

Nearby, on rue La Boétie, was the Paul Pétridès gallery, the man who revealed the immense talent of Maurice Utrillo, Suzanne Valadon, Marie Laurencin, Maurice de Vlaminck and many others.

The Wildenstein Institute was also nearby. The Paul Guillaume gallery was located next door on rue de Miromesnil.

Today, the Comité Utrillo-Valadon, chaired by Hélène Bruneau, heir to Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo, meets regularly at the gallery's premises at 24, avenue Matignon, where Marc-Arthur Kohn welcomes it as an active member for its expert meetings.