Accompanied by a certificate issued by Comité Vitalis confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Christine Thorailler Collection

Exhibited: Maisson Lorilleux, Macario Vitalis: Un Peintre Philippin en
France, Puteaux (In partnership with the Philippine Embassy
in France), April 10 - June 5, 2022

Literature: Macario Vitalis: Un Peintre Philippin en France (Catalogue d'Exposition). Puteaux: Maison Lorilleux and the Philippine Embassy in France, 2022. Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at Maison Lorilleux. Full-color photograph and painting description on page 25.

ABOUT THE WORK

The celebrated modernist Macario Vitalis' Still Life with Flowers was among the works showcased in his retrospective exhibition at Puteaux, France, from April 10 to June 5, 2022. Titled Macario Vitalis: Un Peintre Philippine en France, the show paid homage to Vitalis, being one of the first Filipino international artists of the first half of the 20th century, and showcased his evolution and chameleon-like versatility. The work at hand, from the collection of the retrospective’s curator and Vitalis collector for over 30 years, Christine Thorailler, is among the paintings by Vitalis that had never been shown to the public until the exhibition's commencement. Still Life with Lilac Flowers belongs to Vitalis' first artistic period, the "Montmartre – Puteaux Period" (1925 to 1944), where his earliest works are to be found. By the time Vitalis had finished this work, he had already met Camille Renault around 1935-36. Renault was a famous art patron and collector of painters of the École de Paris. He owned 'Big Boy,' a theater-restaurant at 60 Avenue de la République in Puteaux. From 1925 until 1967, 'Big Boy' was highly frequented by artists from all walks of life and the Le Tout-Paris, the city's affluent elite who went to "trendy" spots. The felicitous encounter between Vitalis and Renault came at a time of financial constraints for the former. When Vitalis established residency in Montmartre, the artistic heart of Paris, on August 5, 1925, after migrating to the US and living in London in the years prior in search of his creative soul, the artist lived a "bohemian lifestyle," influenced by the carefree lifestyle of the district and the avant-garde character of the artists who lived, worked, and set up their studios there, such as van Gogh, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Modigliani, and Valadon. Vitalis shared an atelier with two other artists at 66 Rue Lepic, a few blocks away from where Van Gogh had lived. Despite his miserable living, Vitalis found Montmartre suitable for his artistic pursuits and development. As an artistic hubbub, Paris gave rise to the École de Paris, encapsulating its significance as the heart and soul of Western art in the first decades of the 20th century. The city became a melting pot of avant-garde styles, such as Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, Surrealism, and French Expressionism. Post-Impressionism captured Vitalis' creative soul. Vitalis' early works date back to the mid-1920s up to the mid1940s and are characterized by the influence of the said style. His works during that period, such as Still Life with Lilac Flowers, capture the style's use of arbitrary and vivid colors and distortion of form for a more expressive effect, stressing the painter's point of view. Particularly, Vitalis admired Paul Cezanne's still lifes. We see in the work at hand vestiges of Cezanne: the small and exploratory brushstrokes, flattening of space, and the geometric forms (foreshadowing Vitalis' Cubist period). When Vitalis met Renault, the latter, likely impressed by his affiliation with the École de Paris, offered the former to stay in a maid's room above 'Big Boy,' where he would remain for nearly 20 years. Thus, Still Life with Lilac Flowers, with its bright, vivid composition, encapsulates Vitalis in his 'existential renaissance,' spurred by his friendship with Renault, who provided him with a studio and gave him the privilege to be recognized and acknowledged by Paris' culturati; Renault had Vitalis exhibit his works at 'Big Boy.' In return, Vitalis did the restaurant's set designs, decorated the theater during shows, and often assisted in the kitchen. Vitalis and Renault would form a lifelong friendship, treating each other as family, with the former even joining the latter's family excursions. Also around 1940, Vitalis met the cubist Gaston Duchamp, aka Jacques Villon, elder brother to Marcel Duchamp. Vitalis would associate himself with Villon and the Groupe de Puteaux (Section d'Or), stalwarts of Orphic Cubism. Vitalis would gradually shed his post-impressionist fleece like it was a second skin and veer towards Cubism. (A.M.)