86th Auction, lot 47 This work of the versatile artist and outstanding representative of the French avant-garde, Maurice de Vlaminck, which is very rare on the Czech art market, represents the artist’s mature period of the 1930s. If we compare the works of Henri Matisse and Maurice de Vlaminck, who both participated in the well-known Salon of Independents exhibition in 1905, we find out the two furthest and ultimately different artistic expressions within the Fauvist movement. While Matisse wanted to discover the core of the reality in a contemplative and even spiritual way, Vlaminck, on the contrary, pursued a single goal: to express with maximum suggestion his passionate temperament with which he observed the world. His ecstatic approach was inspired by Vincent van Gogh, one of the founders of modern art who also had a very unique and solitary personality, therefore it is no wonder that Vlaminck’s work was the most unrestrained within the Fauvist movement. Despite the contemporary tend to neoclassicism, Vlaminck used a very bold colour range in this painting, undoubtedly proving that he was a highly individual character who wasn’t influenced by museum artworks, and even gained all his skills through self-study. It was the uniqueness of his mind that eventually led Vlaminck to very individual points of view and characteristic expression, as evidenced by his autobiography “Dangerous Turn” (Tournant dangereux). This very suggestive and masterfully executed painting was created at a time when Vlaminck turned away from modern art in search of his own artistic language, and demonstrates his great painting experience and sense of colours. The flowers in the foreground glow in vermillion and distinctly yellow colours, whilst greenish stalks and small blue flowerets dive into a neutral brown-grey background. The brightness and volume of the bouquet is entirely determined by the artist’s ability to compose the painting in colour perspective. According to Sotheby’s in Paris, the painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue of Vlaminck’s artwork (Madame Godelieve de Vlaminck – Madame Pascale Krausz, “Archives Vlaminck”), and it was exhibited in Sotheby’s, Paris, in 2020. Assessed during consultations by PhDr. M. Theinhardt and prof. J. Zemina. The expertise by PhDr. R. Michalová, Ph.D., is attached.