Vente Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Michel Boscher, 21 décembre 1956, lot 122 (titré Soir sur le port) 

Vente Genève, Galerie Motte, 28 juin 1968, lot 31 (titré Les bâteaux )

Vente Paris, Palais Galliera, Mes Loudmer, Poulin, Cornette de Saint-Cyr, 12 juin 1974, lot 175 (titré Marine) 

Vente Paris, Hôtel George V, Mes Loudmer, Poulin, Cornette de Saint-Cyr, 29 octobre 1974, lot 87 (titré Marine) 

Collection particulière, Île-de-France

Vente Paris, Kâ-Mondo, 2 décembre 2022, lot 87 

Galerie des Modernes, Paris 

Acquis auprès de cette dernière par l'actuel propriétaire le 31 janvier 2025

Collection Louis Grandchamp des Raux

Cette œuvre sera incluse au catalogue raisonné actuellement en préparation par le Comité Jean Metzinger.

Un certificat du Comité Jean Metzinger (Marek Mielniczuk - Raphael Maket - Marc Ottavi) sera remis à l'acquéreur.

Both a painter and a poet, Jean Metzinger first made a name for himself early in his career with his Divisionist works, before turning his attention to Fauvism, Pre-Cubism and then Cubism. This work, painted in 1905, predates the shift in his style towards a more abstract form of representation. The works from this period are seascapes and landscapes of Normandy or Brittany, depicting mainly sailing and fishing ports.

This view of the pier and the large jetty at the port of Le Croisic is composed with great rigour: a high horizon line separates the sky from the sea; the large jetty and the lighthouse are on the left, and the open-work pier is on the right and in the foreground. A few boats, some of which sporting colourful sails that catch the viewer’s eye, animate the scene. The touches of yellow and blue contrast with a palette that is dominated by shades of pink, mauve and green, conveying an atmosphere of calm and silence. Metzinger applies broad, mosaic-like brushstrokes that create subtle plays of light and reflection. This technique is linked to the significant resurgence of interest in Neo-Impressionism in 1905, spurred by the retrospectives of Seurat and Van Gogh at the Salon des Indépendants, and by the solo exhibition of Henri-Edmond Cross at the Galerie Druet. The subsequent simultaneous interest in the work of Cézanne and in the principles of Fauvism suggests the path by which Jean Metzinger moved from Neo-Impressionism towards Cubism.