Auction 45 / Lot 130

Signed, place-named and dated 'Richard Bloos Paris 1912' at lower left, on the verso of the stretcher handwritten inscription 'Richard Bloos 9 rue campagne premiere Paris Bd. (Boulevard) des Capucines', on the stretcher label of the Leipziger Kunstverein with inventory number 'Leipziger Kunstverein 1164', further label with handwritten inscription as well as machine-written numbering 'Boulevard Bloos 885', frame. Provenance: Bergische private collection. After the artist Richard Bloos had finished his studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, he went to Paris in 1906. Originally intended as a study trip, he ended up staying in the French art metropolis for eight years. The artistic atmosphere that surrounded him there had a decisive influence on his oeuvre in terms of colouring, style and choice of motifs. He moved in the artistic circles of the Montmarte and during this time created numerous paintings in plein-air style, the depiction of an everyday street scene being one of his preferred motifs. The colourfulness, the play of light and shadow and the detail of the subject convey the impressionist idea of the momentary in his works. The scene presented here on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris illustrates the intention and masterful execution of this concept to the highest degree. The viewer is invited to observe from a bird's-eye view the bustling and constant activity of this central traffic point of everyday life in Paris and lingers there in the moment of the moment. Richard Bloos' works were already presented to the public in important Parisian exhibitions during his stay in France; for example in the years 1909 -1913 in the 'Salon des Indeépendants' and 1910-1913 in the exhibition of the 'Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts'.