Details
ALFRED STEVENS (BELGIAN, 1823-1906)
Menton, presque la nuit, 2è impression
signed, inscribed and dated 'AStevens.94/Menton' (lower left); and further signed with monogram, dated and inscribed 'No 2/AS 94' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
32 x 2578 in. (81 x 65 cm.)
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 16-18 October 1985, lot 218.
Anonymous sale; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 23 June 1988, lot 147.
Anonymous sale; Galerie Pierre-Yves Gabus, Geneva, 4 December 1988, lot 536, as: `L'usine a Menton'.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 21 June 1998, lot 187, as: `Menton' (£33,350)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature
The artist's 'Registre comptable,' 1894, no, 1052.
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve.
These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
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Lot Essay

In 1889, Stevens’ doctor recommended that he take the sea air as a remedy for his bronchial condition. His first visits were to the channel coast area near Le Havre, and the artist’s interest in the sea and coastal landscapes continued throughout his lifetime. His work in this genre is quite varied, ranging from the most rapid notations of colour and atmosphere to fully rendered seascapes. These marine paintings were so successful commercially that Stevens’ dealer, Georges Petit, put the artist under an exclusive contract of 50,000 francs to take his entire output in this genre for the season. The present lot represents the town of Menton, on the French Riviera, painted at dusk, with evening muting the colours of the Mediterranean and creating an almost abstract impression of the coastline after the sun has set.

We are grateful to the Comité Alfred Stevens for confirming the authenticity of this work on the basis of digital images. The work will be included in their forthcoming Alfred Stevens Catalogue raisonné, currently in preparation.
*SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE*

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