Maurice Utrillo (French, 1883-1955) Rue Saint-Rustique, Montmartre, circa 1919 Oil on canvas 26-1/4 x 19 inches (66.7 x 48.3 cm) Signed lower center: Maurice, Utrillo, V, Estate of Louis Mogul, Newton, Massachusetts PROVENANCE: Karl Buchholz Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Mero (Helen), Berlin, Germany, acquired from the above, circa 1937; Mr. and Mrs. Paul L. Erdos (formerly Helen Mero), New York; Kathleen Mero Mogul, Newton, Massachusetts, acquired from the family trust, 1978; Louis Mogul, Newton, Massachusetts, inherited from the above; Estate of the above. EXHIBITED: Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, "Maurice Utrillo: Exhibition of Paintings," October 18-December 1, 1963. LITERATURE: P. Pétridès, L'oeuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo, Paris, 1969, no. 781. Maurice Utrillo: Exhibition of Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1963, no. 85, illustrated. The Comité Utrillo-Valadon has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work, which will be included in the next volume of the Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo. The lot is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity, dated October 4, 2020, from Hélène Bruneau. This lot is also accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity from Paul Pétridès dated July 1, 1958. Nestled in the heart of Paris' Montmartre district, a winding, cobbled path leads to the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur. Maurice Utrillo, born and raised in Montmartre, frequented this narrow road, Rue Saint-Rustique, possibly the oldest street in Paris, and it became one of his most studied points-of-view. Overlooking the city, Montmartre ("the hill of martyrs") was during Utrillo's time a bustling neighborhood whose communal nature appealed to the "radical" sensibilities of Belle-Époque bohemians. Considered the creative hub of France, it was home to poets, writers, musicians and artists such as Picasso, Renoir, Degas, Lautrec, and Suzanne Valadon, Utrillo's mother, who are now considered among the giants of early European Modernism. Utrillo, who as a young, insecure and mostly self-taught painter, tried to work en-plein-air like the Impressionists he so admired, but found himself too anxious to deal with the attention from passersby. Instead, he found peace working at his home and studio at 12 Rue Cortot, a block away from Rue Saint-Rustique. There, he worked mostly from memory, with visual aids in the form of postcards from his mother. Today, the Musée de Montmartre occupies three adjacent buildings, 12-14 rue de Cortot, which housed not only Utrillo and Valadon's former home and studios, but those of Renoir, Raoul Dufy, Charles Camoin, and Émile Bernard, among others. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved