Name: Maurice Utrillo, At Notre-Dame, The City, from Paris Capital, 1955
Brand: Maurice Utrillo
Rating: 4.8 (74 reviews)

About the Item

This exquisite lithograph by Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955), titled a Notre-Dame, La Cite (At Notre-Dame, The City), from the album Paris Capitale (Paris Capital), originates from the 1955 edition published by Joseph Foret, Editeur d'Art, Paris, and Galerie Paul Petrides, Paris, rendered by Societe anonyme Baguenier Desormeaux et Cie, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1955. The work embodies Utrillos mastery of atmospheric nuance, lyrical composition, and architectural harmony, distilling the poetic stillness and emotional resonance that define his vision of Paris. Executed as a lithograph on velin Johannot paper, this work measures 16.93 x 12.99 inches (43 x 33 cm). Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. The edition exemplifies the refined craftsmanship of Mourlot Freres, Paris. Artwork Details: Artist: Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955) Title: a Notre-Dame, La Cite (At Notre-Dame, The City), from the album Paris Capitale (Paris Capital) Medium: Lithograph on velin Johannot paper Dimensions: 16.93 x 12.99 inches (43 x 33 cm) Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Date: 1955 Publisher: Joseph Foret, Editeur d'Art, Paris, and Galerie Paul Petrides, Paris Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the album Paris Capitale (Paris Capital), published by Joseph Foret, Editeur d'Art, Paris, and Galerie Paul Petrides, Paris; rendered by Societe anonyme Baguenier Desormeaux et Cie, Paris; printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1955 Notes: Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), From this album Paris Capitale, with unpublished texts by Andre Maurois, of the French Academy, illustrates with ten original lithographs in color by Maurice Utrillo, with the additional text, Culs-de Lampe by Lucie Valore. It has been drawn CXCVII numbered examples, constituting the original edition including XXV examples on velin paper of pure cloth Arches numbered in roman numerals from I to XXV, accompanied by a color suite with a remark on nacre japon, as well as a decomposition of the colors of one of the lithographs. L examples on velin paper of numbered Rives, in arabic numbers from I to L with a color suite on imperial japon; CXXII examples on velin Johannot pure thread paper numbered in Arabic digits from LI to CLXXII. In addition, X non-commerce examples were printed on pure marsh paper chiffon lettered from A-J and a few nominative examples for collaborators. The lithographic stones and zincs have been destroyed after the draw. About the Publication: Paris Capitale (Paris Capital), published in 1955 by Joseph Foret, Editeur d'Art, in collaboration with Galerie Paul Petrides, stands as one of the most ambitious postwar French livres d'artiste, uniting literary texts by Andre Maurois with ten original color lithographs by Maurice Utrillo. Produced with exceptional attention to pochoir coloration, velin papers, and typographic refinement, the album exemplifies the high craftsmanship of mid-century Parisian printmaking. Issued across multiple paper states—including velin d'Arches, velin Rives, velin Johannot, imperial japon, and nacre japon—the edition reflects the luxurious material culture of Parisian art publishing. Printed by Mourlot Freres, the foremost lithographic atelier of the era, Paris Capitale endures as a significant artistic tribute to the city Utrillo immortalized throughout his career. About the Artist: Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955) was a French painter whose poetic depictions of Montmartre and Paris transformed the city's quiet streets, cathedrals, and cafes into enduring symbols of nostalgia and modern beauty. Born in Paris to the artist Suzanne Valadon—model and muse to Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec—Utrillo was immersed in art from an early age but led a turbulent life that found solace in painting. Entirely self-taught, he became one of the most distinctive figures of the Paris School, celebrated for his lyrical "White Period" (1909–1914), during which he employed thick impasto and a restrained palette of whites, grays, and ochres to capture the worn facades and atmospheric stillness of Montmartre. Influenced by Paul Cezanne's structural precision, Vincent van Gogh's emotional color, and Camille Pissarro's realism, Utrillo forged a style that blended Impressionist light with Post-Impressionist solidity, expressing solitude, longing, and spiritual calm. He worked amidst the revolutionary ferment of early twentieth-century Paris, alongside Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Georges Braque, and Chaim Soutine, yet his art stood apart from their Cubist and Expressionist experiments, focusing instead on evoking emotional truth through representation. Though he shared his generation's stage with avant-garde icons such as Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, and Man Ray, Utrillo's paintings offered a poetic counterpoint—a meditative realism that captured the enduring soul of modern life. His mastery of perspective and tonal harmony imbued works like Rue Norvins and Place du Tertre with quiet majesty, transforming ordinary streets into sanctuaries of memory and light. Utrillo's profound sensitivity influenced later artists including Balthus, Jean Dubuffet, Nicolas de Stael, and Giorgio Morandi, as well as Edward Hopper and Wayne Thiebaud, who echoed his stillness and emotional clarity in their own depictions of urban solitude. His art, now housed in major museums such as the Musee d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Tate, remains a cornerstone of modern French painting, bridging the lyricism of Impressionism with the introspection of modernism. Revered for his sincerity and mastery of mood, Utrillo stands alongside Picasso, Miro, Dali, Kandinsky, Duchamp, Calder, Giacometti, and Man Ray as a pillar of twentieth-century art, his work capturing the eternal poetry of Paris. The highest auction record for Maurice Utrillo was achieved by his masterpiece Rue Norvins a Montmartre (circa 1910), which sold for 4,882,500 USD at Sotheby's New York on November 6, 2011, affirming his enduring legacy as one of the most beloved and collectible painters of his era. a Notre-Dame, La Cite Paris Capitale 1955, Utrillo Mourlot Freres, Utrillo velin Johannot, Utrillo collectible lithograph.

Creator:
Maurice Utrillo (1883 - 1955, French)
Creation Year:
1955
Dimensions:
Height: 16.93 in (43.01 cm)Width: 12.99 in (33 cm)
Medium:
Lithograph,Stencil
Movement & Style:
Modern
Period:
1950-1959
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Southampton, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1465214369732

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Maurice Utrillo

Maurice Utrillo, initially Maurice Valadon, was born in Paris, December 26, 1883, the illegitimate son of the artist Suzanne Valadon. She, who had become a model after a fall from a trapeze, ended her chosen career as a circus acrobat, found that posing for Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and others provided her with an opportunity to study their techniques; in some cases, she had also become their mistress. She taught herself to paint, and when Toulouse-Lautrec introduced her to Edgar Degas, he became her mentor. Eventually she became a peer of the artists she had posed for. Meanwhile, Valedon's mother was left in charge of raising the young Utrillo, who soon showed a troubling inclination toward truancy and alcoholism. When a mental illness took hold of the twenty-one year old Utrillo in 1904, he was encouraged to paint by his mother. Under her tutelage, he began painting the streets of his childhood neighborhood, Montmartre. Working in the tradition of the conventional veduta, he depicted streets, buildings, fountains, and avenues, which he captured at different seasons of the year in a style influenced by the lyrical realism of Camille Pissarro and Albert Sisley. However, by deploying a subtle palette - mainly yellows, turquoise, maroon and zinc white - he suffused the scenes with atmospheric* qualities that evoke feelings either of familiarity or of alienation in the viewer. Known as his 'White Period' (période blanche), the years between 1909 and 1914 represent the acme of Utrillo's creativity. During this time, he reduced his palette to white, shading into grays. He also mixed his paints with sand, plaster, and lime to render the physical substance of his subject matter, walls in particular. In 1910, art critics F. Jourdan and E. Faure discovered the artist. Their appreciation of his talent enabled Utrillo to take part for the first time in the 1912 Salon d'Automne*. Until 1914, Utrillo traveled in Brittany and Corsica; his works assumed an increasingly luminous* quality, which greatly enriched his earlier ascetic conception of reality. In 1924, he exhibited with his mother at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris and was offered a contract for a year. However, that same year he also attempted to commit suicide, which was probably the result of years of alcohol abuse. A powerful natural talent, Utrillo made an enormous contribution in consolidating painterly structure and texture. He was also important as a draughtsman*. In 1926, he designed stage scenery and costumes for Djaghilev's Ballets Russes. He received public recognition in 1928, when he was made a member of the Legion of Honour. Starting where Impressionism* left off, Utrillo became the best-known portrayer of Paris, especially Montmartre, painting both from nature and from postcards. His poetic interpretations of the streets and squares of Montmartre contributed substantially to popularizing a romantic image of that quarter. However, when he painted people, they were always represented as solitary beings, lost in social isolation.