The Quays at Rouen
- Date
- 1912
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- depicts
- Rouen, Haute-Normandie region, France, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 25 3/4 x 32 in. (65.4 x 81.3 cm)
framed: 34 1/2 x 41 in. (87.6 x 104.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Sara Lee Corporation; A Millennium Gift to America
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 127:1998
NOTES
On a cold spring day in 1912, Albert Marquet sat in his hotel room in the French city of Rouen and painted this view of the busy port. His subject was the Seine River, which flows through the center of the painting. Warehouses line the near bank of this important waterway, and the imposing Boieldieu Bridge crosses its frigid water. Marquet’s subdued palette of grays and browns reflects the bad weather that plagued his stay in Rouen. Despite setbacks, he finished three major paintings of the port, each recording a different ebb and flow of workers and barges.
Provenance
possibly by 1913 -
Galerie E. Druet, Paris, France [1]
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France
- still in 1948
Private Collection, Paris, France [2]
- 1961
Art de France
1961 - still in 1980
Nathan Cummings (1896-1985) and Joanne Toor Cummings (1928-1995), Chicago, IL, USA; New York, NY, purchased from Art de France [3]
by 1983 - 1998
Sara Lee Corporation, Chicago, IL, purchased from Nathan Cummings [4]
1998 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Sara Lee Corporation [5]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1999 exhibition catalogue of the Sara Lee Corporation collection [Brettell, Richard R. "Monet to Moore: The Millennium Gift of Sara Lee Corporation." New York: Abbeville Press, 1999, cat. 26]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] There is an undated Galerie Druet label on the reverse of the painting, with the number 7519. Additionally, a painting listed in a 1913 Marquet catalogue for an exhibition at Galerie E. Druet may be the Museum's painting, also dated 1912, and titled "Quai de Paris, temps gris" ["Exposition de Peintures d'Albert Marquet." Paris: Galerie E. Druet, March 31 - April 12, 1913, cat. 33].
[2] A painting which fits the description of this one was exhibited in a traveling exhibition in both Zürich and Paris in 1948, as lent by a private collection, Paris ["Gedächtnis-Ausstellung Albert Marquet 1875-1947." Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, June - August, 1948, cat. 65; "Albert Marquet 1875-1947." Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne, October - December, 1948, cat. 35]. A 1997 catalogue of the Sara Lee Corporation collection also indicates the painting was in a Paris private collection in the 1940s, and cites the 1948 Zürich exhibition in the exhibition history for this work [Brettell, Richard R. "An Impressionist Legacy: The Collection of Sara Lee Corporation." New York: Abbeville Press, 1997, p. 156].
[3] Nathan Cummings was the founder of what is now known as the Sara Lee Corporation. Cummings began collecting art in 1945, and in 1980 began selling some of his paintings to his company, which was then named Consolidated Foods. In 1985, Consolidated Foods changed its name to the Sara Lee Corporation. An appraisal report prepared upon the Sara Lee Corporation's gift to the Museum indicates that Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings purchased the painting in 1961 from Art de France [appraisal dated March 14, 2000, SLAM document files].
[4] The painting was in the collection of Consolidated Foods Corporation by 1983, when it was published in a brochure of the company's art collection, which was formed solely through the purchase of Nathan Cummings' private collection [Consolidated Foods Corporation. "Nathan Cummings Collection." Chicago: Consolidated Foods Corporation, 1983, color plate 21]. A letter and report regarding the condition of the painting dated March 1985 and July 1989 confirm that the painting was in the Sara Lee Corporation collection [memo dated March 1985 on company letterhead; condition report dated July 1989, SLAM document files].
[5] Deed of gift from Sara Lee Corporation dated December 31, 1998 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1999.
Galerie E. Druet, Paris, France [1]
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France
- still in 1948
Private Collection, Paris, France [2]
- 1961
Art de France
1961 - still in 1980
Nathan Cummings (1896-1985) and Joanne Toor Cummings (1928-1995), Chicago, IL, USA; New York, NY, purchased from Art de France [3]
by 1983 - 1998
Sara Lee Corporation, Chicago, IL, purchased from Nathan Cummings [4]
1998 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Sara Lee Corporation [5]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1999 exhibition catalogue of the Sara Lee Corporation collection [Brettell, Richard R. "Monet to Moore: The Millennium Gift of Sara Lee Corporation." New York: Abbeville Press, 1999, cat. 26]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] There is an undated Galerie Druet label on the reverse of the painting, with the number 7519. Additionally, a painting listed in a 1913 Marquet catalogue for an exhibition at Galerie E. Druet may be the Museum's painting, also dated 1912, and titled "Quai de Paris, temps gris" ["Exposition de Peintures d'Albert Marquet." Paris: Galerie E. Druet, March 31 - April 12, 1913, cat. 33].
[2] A painting which fits the description of this one was exhibited in a traveling exhibition in both Zürich and Paris in 1948, as lent by a private collection, Paris ["Gedächtnis-Ausstellung Albert Marquet 1875-1947." Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, June - August, 1948, cat. 65; "Albert Marquet 1875-1947." Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne, October - December, 1948, cat. 35]. A 1997 catalogue of the Sara Lee Corporation collection also indicates the painting was in a Paris private collection in the 1940s, and cites the 1948 Zürich exhibition in the exhibition history for this work [Brettell, Richard R. "An Impressionist Legacy: The Collection of Sara Lee Corporation." New York: Abbeville Press, 1997, p. 156].
[3] Nathan Cummings was the founder of what is now known as the Sara Lee Corporation. Cummings began collecting art in 1945, and in 1980 began selling some of his paintings to his company, which was then named Consolidated Foods. In 1985, Consolidated Foods changed its name to the Sara Lee Corporation. An appraisal report prepared upon the Sara Lee Corporation's gift to the Museum indicates that Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings purchased the painting in 1961 from Art de France [appraisal dated March 14, 2000, SLAM document files].
[4] The painting was in the collection of Consolidated Foods Corporation by 1983, when it was published in a brochure of the company's art collection, which was formed solely through the purchase of Nathan Cummings' private collection [Consolidated Foods Corporation. "Nathan Cummings Collection." Chicago: Consolidated Foods Corporation, 1983, color plate 21]. A letter and report regarding the condition of the painting dated March 1985 and July 1989 confirm that the painting was in the Sara Lee Corporation collection [memo dated March 1985 on company letterhead; condition report dated July 1989, SLAM document files].
[5] Deed of gift from Sara Lee Corporation dated December 31, 1998 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1999.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.