On Roger de La Fresnaye’s Lost Étude pour le portrait de l’artiste and Its Corbeille de fleurs Motif

Abstract

The painter Roger de La Fresnaye is known for his conservative handling of cubist methods and techniques. His classicizing approach, by which he converted natural forms into a harmoniously balanced configuration of simplified planes and arcs rendered in pure, luminous color, is paradigmatically instantiated in L’homme assis (Musée des beaux-arts, Rouen)—one of the last canvases he produced before departing for the front in 1914, and a work that has long been regarded as one of his finest compositions. This article discusses newly discovered evidence concerning the artist’s preliminary oil study for this work, which