Beschreibung:

IN THE MANNER OF KEES VAN DONGEN (DUTCH 1877 - 1968) STUDY OF A RIDER IN GREEN acrylic on canvas, signed in pen 80cm x 60cm Note: From the private collection of the late Mrs Kate Harris, South Africa. Mrs Harris, who lived a flamboyant and luxurious lifestyle, emigrated to South Africa at the turn of the twentieth century to marry to the co-owner of a lucrative diamond mine. Both eccentricity and the socialite lifestyle were trademarks of the Harris family females; Mrs Harris' niece, also named Kate Harris, was a dancer in the Paris Opera Ballet in the 1920s and mingled with the likes of Ballet Russes ballerina Lydia Lopokova and her celebrated British economist husband, John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes. Mrs Harris of South Africa passed this painting down to her daughter, who both continued the family tradition of excess and carried the favoured family name, Kate Harris. This Kate Harris, the great-aunt of the vendor, is described by her great-nephew as 'an extremely flamboyant, self-assured lady with a wicked sense of humour.' As a family of avid balletomanes, it is clear that the work of Kees Van Dongen would have appealed ; inspired by the Ballet Russes' inaugural Paris season of 1909, Van Dongen was moved to paint 'Souvenir of the Russian Opera Season, 1909', a large oil on canvas that currently hangs in the National Gallery of Canada. Pair this connection to the decadence of the ballet with the eccentric subject matter and garish palette favoured by Van Dongen and one can see why the 'eccentric' Kate Harris collective would have adored and coveted the work of this Fauve master . Whilst provenance suggests a likelihood that this painting is by Kees Van Dongen (as signed), neither McTear's nor the vendor have taken further steps to authenticate the painting.