Louis Marcoussis

Louis Marcoussis (Warsaw 1883–1941 Cusset) La Grappe des Raisins, signed, dated Marcoussis 1920, watercolour, gouache on paper, laid down on card, 30.5 x 43 cm, stamps verso of the Landesmuseum Hanover and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, framed, (PS) Catalogue Raisonné: Jean Lafranchis, Marcoussis, sa vie, son oeuvre, catalogue complet des peintures, fixés sur verre, aquarelles, dessins, gravure, Paris 1961, no. D. 32 (ill.) This work is the study for the picture, ‘Couteau et Raisins’’’’ dated 1920, Lafranchis F.22 Provenance: Dr Paul Erich Küppers, Hanover (until 1922) Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers, Hanover - Moscow - Novosibirsk (1926 as a loan to the Provinzialkunstmuseum, later the Landeskunstmuseum, Hanover, sequestered as ‘degenerate’’’’ in 1937.) Kunsthandlung Hildebrand Gurlitt, Hamburg Josef Haubrich, Cologne (1942 acquired by Gurlitt) Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne (inv. no. WRM 2857; acquired 1950 by the Stiftung Dr Haubrich after 1946) Museum Ludwig, Cologne (inv. no. ML/Z 1985/57); transferred to the Wallraff-Richartz-Museum, returned to Jen Lissitzky in 2000 Private collection, Europe Exhibited: 100. Ausstellung: Zehn Jahre Sturm, Gesamtschau. Berlin, Der Sturm, 1921, cat. no. 23 Expressionisme, Werken uit de verzameling Haubrich in het Wallraf Museum te Keulen, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 1951/52, cat. no. 164 L’’’’expressionisme dans le Musée Wallraf-Richartz de Cologne, Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1952, cat. no. 162 Louis Marcoussis, 1883–1941. Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Gravuren 1910–1940, Cologne, Kölnischer Kunstverein, 1960, cat. no. 5 Meisterblätter aus der Sammlung Josef Haubrich, Cologne, Museum Ludwig, 1989, cat. no. 248, full-page colour ill., p. 196 Literature and Illustrations: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Cologne, Führer durch die Gemäldegalerie, Cologne 1957, p. 115 Peter Fuchs (ed.), Josef Haubrich, Sammler und Stifter. Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts in Köln, Cologne, Greven Verlag 1959, p.103, ill.55 Wallraf-Richartz-Museum der Stadt Köln, Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Cologne 1959, p. 103 Evelyn Weiss (ed.), Katalog der Gemälde des 20. Jahrhunderts, die älteren Generationen bis 1915, im Wallraf -Richartz-Museum - mit Teilen der Sammlung Ludwig - und im Kunstgewerbemuseum, Cologne 1974, no. 2857, ill. no.11 Handbuch Museum Ludwig, Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts. Gemälde, Skulpturen, Collagen, Objekte, Environments, Cologne, Museum Ludwig, 1979, p. 494f., colour ill. p. 495 Exh. cat., El Lissitzky 1890–1941, Retrospektive, Sprengel Museum, Hanover, and Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg, Halle, 1988, ill. 243 (photo of the Kabinett der Abstrakten, Hanover, dated “1935”) Melissa Müller and Monika Tatzkow, Verlorene Bilder, verlorene Leben. Jüdische Sammler und was aus ihren Werken wurde, Munich, Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag 2009, pp. 99–113 (Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers) Louis Marcoussis has arranged this still life in the Cubist style, ordering the objects in geometrical forms on the light brown table. The bowl of grapes is positioned amongst the other objects to deliberately catch the viewer’’’’s eye. The work clearly demonstrates the influence of Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Albert Gleisze and Jean Metzinger on Louis Marcoussis. Together with numerous other works, Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers had lent the painting “La grappe de raisins”, part of the estate of her late husband Paul Erich Küppers, to the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover on permanent loan in 1926. The loaned works were seized in 1937 as part of NS actions against “degenerate” art, and this still life was sold by the Hamburg art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, subsequently appearing in the collection belonging to Cologne lawyer Josef Haubrich who gifted it to the city of Cologne in 1950. Sophie Lissitzky- Küppers, residing in the Soviet Union, made efforts to recover her property during her lifetime. The work was kept in custody by the Museum Ludwig in Cologne until its restitution in 2000 when it was returned to her son, Jen Lissitzky.

LOT 92 LOUIS MARCOUSSIS 1883 - 1941 PLANCHES DE SALUT (MILET 66-79) The complete portfolio, comprising 14 etchings, with accompanying text, 1931, signed in ink on the justification, inscribed 'essai' and numbered xx/xx, a trial proof aside from the total edition of 77, with the etching (M. 79) excluded from the final edition, published by Éditions Jeanne Bucher, Paris, on chine collé on Arches wove paper, bound, and contained in the original paper wrappers, and cloth-covered portfolio box (15 prints) each sheet 318 by 405 mm 12 1/2 by 16 in overall 348 by 429 by 40 mm 13 3/4 by 16 7/8 by 1 1/2 in

Louis Marcoussis (1883-1941) Cithare et Coquillage (Milet 44) etching and aquatint, 1922, on Arches wove paper, seventh, final state, signed in pencil, numbered 15/20, the full sheet, pale scattered foxing in the margins, mainly visible verso, pale light-staining, otherwise in good condition P. 520 x 710 mm., S. 613 x 813 mm. VARIOUS PROPERTIES Cithare et Coquillage is one of the most important cubist still-life prints and confirms the artist's place as one of Cubism's most significant printmakers. In this print Marcoussis achieved a serene harmony through the use of subtle tonal contrasts and overlapping planes, contrasting the sharp, etched line of the curve of the zither with the more amorphous shape of the shell. 'The whole object is made of nothing more substantial than the distinct harmony of various planes: it might dissolve at any moment into a seductive play of transparency, were it not bound by a knot of the sound-hole and loosely confined by the fine net of drawing thrown over its surface' (Jane Lee, Marcoussis, Print Quarterly, September 1992 Vol. IX, Number 3, p. 304-306). Of the edition of twenty, four impressions are in public collections. Cithare et Coquillage rarely appears at auction, with only one other impression offered in the last decade.

Louis Marcoussis (1883-1941) Violon, bouteille fleurs dans un verre et huit de pique signed with the initials and dated 'L.M. 1919' (lower right) oil on glass 17½ x 9 5/8 in. (44.5 x 24.5 cm.); within the frame Painted in 1919 VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium. Galerie de Berri, Paris (no. 1081). Walery collection. J. Lafranchis, Marcoussis, Sa vie, son oeuvre, Catalogue complet des peintures, fixé sur verre, aquarelles, dessins, gravures, Paris, 1961, no. F. 3 (illustrated p. 284).

Louis Marcoussis (Warsaw 1883-1941 Cusset) "Le Blanc et le Noir - 10 Eaux-Fortes pour Aurelia de Gerard de Nerval", 1931, portfolio of 10 etchings, signed in blue ink, No. 109 of 154 numbered prints, monogrammed ‘M’’’’’’’’ in the plate, plate size 17,3 x 13,2 cm, sheet size 25,7 x 19,6 cm, (M) The folio bears the ex-libris of the collection of Anna Laetitia Pecci Blunt, Rome. Provenance: Collection of Contessa Anna Laetitia Pecci Blunt, Rome, Private Collection Italy. Literature: Lafranchis, pp. 50-55, Miliet pp. 55-64 Specialist: Dr. Monika Meindl