!VAR HAGENDOORN

If I Had the Money

Occasionally I see a work of art that I would actually like to own. The Financial Times of 24 January features an ad by Christie’s for a forthcoming auction of Impressionist and Modern Art, which includes a painting by Kees van Dongen, L’Ouled Naïl (1910). It is a love at first sight. Except that, at an estimated price of £2,000,000 - £3,000,000 it’s above my budget. Apart from that, I don’t have the house to hang it. But if I had the money I could buy a house around it.

The painting is from the period when Kees van Dongen was at the peak of his powers. During his first years in Paris Kees van Dongen, like Toulouse Lautrec, painted many prostitutes, dancers and other performing artists. With his exuberant paintings and vibrant colors he became a darling of the Paris beau monde. After 1920 he primarily painted portraits of the rich and famous. Although some of these paintings are certainly pleasing to the eye, they lack the energy of his earlier paintings.

L’Ouled Naïl was painted during or following a journey to North-Africa shortly after he had signed a contract with a gallery which ensured him an annual income. At the time of the auction the Christie's website featured a page with some interesting information about the painting, but it has since been removed. Fair enough, the painting has been sold. But now the information is gone and if I had copied it here it would have been an infringement of copyright.

Update

It was sold for £ 5,620,500.