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Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2010
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Dear Friends,
We are pleased to present these two recent acquisitions from private California collections for your review.
Bright and sparkling scenes of Paris have an enduring appeal which transcend every other locale in Europe with the possible exception of Venice. Both Kluge and Cortes dedicated their artistic careers to portraying the delights of the city in all seasons and settings. While each drew upon the accomplishments of artists who had proceeded them, among painters of the 20th century, they stand apart.
We wish you all the very best during this Holiday Season.
Sincerely,
Joyce and Kevin Anderson
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Constantin Kluge
Russian, 1912 - 2003
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The Flower Market, Paris
Oil on canvas
28 x 36 inches (36.5 x 44 inches framed)
Signed lower right: G. Kluge
Price upon request
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Provenance:  Wally Findlay Galleries, Los AngelesPrivate Collection since 1975, Los Angeles
Condition:
Excellent original condition.
Biography:Constantin Kluge was born in Riga, Latvia, on January 29, 1912. Kluge's father was drafted into the Tsar's army in 1914. The chaos of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the ensuing Civil War uprooted the family. They moved frequently, always eastward, arriving in Manchuria in 1920. In 1925 the émigré family moved again, this time to the French "concession" of Shanghai, where Kluge would graduate from the French Municipal High School
By the time he was seventeen, he was a very active member of the Shanghai Art Club. But his parents had decided that pure art was not a dependable career, and thus in 1931 Kluge left Shanghai for Paris to study architecture. He spent six years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and graduated in 1937 with the title of French Government Architect. The years spent studying and living in the Latin Quarter of Paris had created, in Kluge, a strong attachment to the characteristic scenes of Paris, and, instead of returning immediately to Shanghai and his family, he stayed on in Paris for six months painting views of Paris in oils, purely to portray and preserve the scenes he so loved.
In mid-1946 he accepted an architectural post in Hong Kong and continued to paint in his spare time. In March, 1950, amid rumours that the Chinese Communists might invade Hong Kong, Constantin Kluge left Asia for good and returned to his beloved Paris. Already a mature and successful painter by the time he reached Paris, he won an award and considerable attention at the Paris Salon in 1951. Since that time he has been a frequent exhibitor in the Salon shows, which have proved to be his gateway to ever increasing public attention, Kluge is a member of the Societe' des Artistes Francais, and his works have won prizes at their Salon. In 1961 he was awarded the Medaille d'Argent as well as the special Raymond Perreau prize given by the Taylor Foundation at the Salon. In 1962 he received the coveted Gold Medal of the Salon. In 1990 he was named a Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur and in 1991 he was awarded the Grand Medal of the City of Senlis.
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Edouard-Leon Cortes
French, 1882 - 1969
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Champs Elysee, Lido
Oil on canvas
13 x 18 inches (20 x 25 inches framed)
Signed lower left: Edouard Cortes
Price upon request
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Provenance: Private Collection, California
Anderson Galleries Inc., California
Condition:
Excellent.
Biography:
The vista extending along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees is known as the Voie Triomphale or "Triumphal Way". It begins at the Louvre, passes through the Tuileries Gardens and the Place de la Concorde and continues up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc du Triomphe. In the early 19th Century the avenue was beautified by the addition of fountains, footpaths and gas lighting. It soon became a favorite rendez-vous, featuring café concerts, restaurants, circuses and panoramas which attracted elegant society. Edouard Cortes was born into a family of artists and artisans in Paris, 1882. His grandfather, Andre Cortes, was famous for his work on the stained glass windows of the Cathedral of Seville and his father, Antonio Cortes, was a painter at the royal court of Spain. In this artistically conducive atmosphere, Edouard showed exceptional talent early and decided at a young age that he was destined to be a painter. He once said, "I was born from and for painting."  Before undergoing his formal education at the National French Art School in Paris, a sixteen-year old Cortes first exhibited his work at the national exhibition of the Societe des Artistes Francais in Paris, 1899. Edouard eventually became a member of the French Artists' Society, exhibiting his works every year as his reputation began to grow. In 1915, he was awarded the Silver Medal at the Salon des Artistes Francais and the Gold Medal at the Salon des Independents. He also received numerous awards at the Salon d'Hiver during his artistic career. Because of his pacifist beliefs stemming from his direct involvement with WWI, he refused the Legion of Honor offered by the French government for his artistic success and contributions. Cortes' poetic Parisian scenes are imbued with nostalgia for a belle-époque France. Even into the 1950s Cortes often painted horse drawn omnibuses and fashions preceding 1920, commenting that, at least in his paintings, he wished to stop history in 1939 before the Second World War. The window Cortes provides into this earlier period of Parisian life offers the viewer a visual history of France and a personal connection to this provocative time. As David Klein has noted:
"Like a lover who wants to know every aspect of his beloved, Cortes portrayed the City of Light in all its moods. His paintings of Paris depict colorful, shadowy shapes, dimly seen through rain, mist, and the softened glow of streetlights. Here are brilliant dashes of color set against the mellow grays of foggy streets, or highlighted by shafts of sunlight which contrast the shadows of alleys and corners."His paintings are exhibited in many French museums and can also be found in Belgium, England, Switzerland, Sweden, and Canada.
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