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Lot Essay
Emile-Othon Friesz came to Paris in 1897 to attend Leon Bonnat's atelier at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His attendance at the academy overlapped with Henri Matisse and Charles Camoin, who were studying there under Gustave Moreau. It was also during this time that he became reacquainted with Raoul Dufy, whom he had met three years earlier when they were students together at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in Le Havre. From 1902-1903 Friesz and Dufy shared a studio, and in 1904 they both had exhibitions at the Galerie des Collectionneurs.
A turning point in Friesz's career came in 1905 when some of his paintings were selected for exhibition in the Salon d'Automne at the Grand Palais. His paintings were installed in a room adjacent to room seven, where Derain, Camoin, Manguin, Matisse, Marquet and Vlaminck were showing. Their boldly colored canvases were the sensation of the Salon that year; critics referred to room seven as "la cage aux Fauves." Though Friesz's paintings were still largely rooted in the Impressionist style, he was certainly aware of the new direction being pursued by his friends. Indeed, the physicality of Friesz's brushwork and the vivid color of his palette indicate that the beginnings of Fauvism were already present in his work. After the 1905 exhibition Friesz took a studio with Matisse at the Convent des Oiseaux and in December of that year he exhibited in the company of Derain, Matisse, Camoin, Guérin, Manguin, Marquet and Vlaminck at Prath et Maynier.
Among the spectators who attended the Salon d'Automne in 1905 was Georges Braque, also a native of Normandy, who had been previously introduced to Friesz in Le Havre. The close working friendship that developed between them after 1905 resulted in an explosive period of artistic creativity. In August and September 1906 Friesz and Braque rented a studio on the banks of the Scheldt River in Antwerp and later that year they ventured to the South of France to paint with the other members of the Fauve group. They also spent time together in Paris and Le Havre, and in 1906 they established the Cercle de l'Art Moderne in Le Havre to showcase Fauvism.
In the late spring of 1907 Braque and Friesz traveled again to the Mediterranean. La baie du Bec d'Aigle was painted during this trip. Whereas they had previously centered their activities on the port of L'Estaque, a suburb of Marseilles, they chose this time to settle in La Ciotat, a small town located further up the coast. The port at La Ciotat was an active center for building and outfitting ships. While their paintings from La Ciotat initially focused on the motifs in the harbor, as they had done in L'Estaque, the two artists subsequently drew inspiration from the rugged terrain of the coastline. Working side by side, the two artists painted views of the chalky cliffs, wooded recesses and paths, inlets and beaches surrounding La Ciotat (see fig. 1). Alvin Martin and Judi Freeman point out that "Friesz was especially attracted to the coves (calanques) just beyond the town of La Ciotat and he painted at least five views of the Bec de l'Aigle, one of the landmarks among the coves. In these paintings Friesz's liberation of color was thorough. Using a vivid palette dominated by orange and ochre-infused green, he abandoned all sense of naturalism in favor of an expressive gestural style characterized by sweeping curvilinear brushwork and layers of pigment. Braque painted those coves too but his images were much more nature-bound than Friesz's strongly abstract motifs" (A. Martin and J. Freeman, "Distant Cousins of Normandy: Braque, Dufy and Friesz", The Fauve Landscape, exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum, 1990, p. 235).
A turning point in Friesz's career came in 1905 when some of his paintings were selected for exhibition in the Salon d'Automne at the Grand Palais. His paintings were installed in a room adjacent to room seven, where Derain, Camoin, Manguin, Matisse, Marquet and Vlaminck were showing. Their boldly colored canvases were the sensation of the Salon that year; critics referred to room seven as "la cage aux Fauves." Though Friesz's paintings were still largely rooted in the Impressionist style, he was certainly aware of the new direction being pursued by his friends. Indeed, the physicality of Friesz's brushwork and the vivid color of his palette indicate that the beginnings of Fauvism were already present in his work. After the 1905 exhibition Friesz took a studio with Matisse at the Convent des Oiseaux and in December of that year he exhibited in the company of Derain, Matisse, Camoin, Guérin, Manguin, Marquet and Vlaminck at Prath et Maynier.
Among the spectators who attended the Salon d'Automne in 1905 was Georges Braque, also a native of Normandy, who had been previously introduced to Friesz in Le Havre. The close working friendship that developed between them after 1905 resulted in an explosive period of artistic creativity. In August and September 1906 Friesz and Braque rented a studio on the banks of the Scheldt River in Antwerp and later that year they ventured to the South of France to paint with the other members of the Fauve group. They also spent time together in Paris and Le Havre, and in 1906 they established the Cercle de l'Art Moderne in Le Havre to showcase Fauvism.
In the late spring of 1907 Braque and Friesz traveled again to the Mediterranean. La baie du Bec d'Aigle was painted during this trip. Whereas they had previously centered their activities on the port of L'Estaque, a suburb of Marseilles, they chose this time to settle in La Ciotat, a small town located further up the coast. The port at La Ciotat was an active center for building and outfitting ships. While their paintings from La Ciotat initially focused on the motifs in the harbor, as they had done in L'Estaque, the two artists subsequently drew inspiration from the rugged terrain of the coastline. Working side by side, the two artists painted views of the chalky cliffs, wooded recesses and paths, inlets and beaches surrounding La Ciotat (see fig. 1). Alvin Martin and Judi Freeman point out that "Friesz was especially attracted to the coves (calanques) just beyond the town of La Ciotat and he painted at least five views of the Bec de l'Aigle, one of the landmarks among the coves. In these paintings Friesz's liberation of color was thorough. Using a vivid palette dominated by orange and ochre-infused green, he abandoned all sense of naturalism in favor of an expressive gestural style characterized by sweeping curvilinear brushwork and layers of pigment. Braque painted those coves too but his images were much more nature-bound than Friesz's strongly abstract motifs" (A. Martin and J. Freeman, "Distant Cousins of Normandy: Braque, Dufy and Friesz", The Fauve Landscape, exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum, 1990, p. 235).