A painting by French painter Maurice de Vlaminck executed in 1905, «Sails in Chatou», fetched 11 400 000 FF (US $ 1,628,570) (Not inclusive of buyer's premium) at auction on June 4th 2000 in Cheverny, western France. This price was the biggest ever recorded at auction during the first half of 2000 in France.
This painting, produced during Vlaminck's Fauve period between 1903 and 1910, by far his best, carried a pre-sale estimate of $ 1 million. Acquired in 1952, it had been remaining in the house of its owner since then.
This important work was exhibited by Ambroise Vollard in 1910, at the Galerie Charpentier in 1962, in a roving exhibition in Japan, France and Switzerland in 1965 and at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1979.
Vlaminck first started his career as a musician and dedicated himself to painting at the turn of the 20th century after meeting André Derain. Both then worked in Chatou and were among the first Fauve painters active in France, notably Matisse, Braque, Manguin or Friesz. However, the Fauve movement lasted less than ten years whereas it blossomed in Germany with a large contingent of Expressionist painters until the 1930s.
Vlaminck and Derain went on to adopt a sombre palette after 1910 and both progressively lost their magic touch after the First World War when they progressively produced somewhat insipid works.
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