The Rue Ravignan, in the Montmartre section of Paris, was something of a landmark, since at number 13 was the famous building nicknamed “Le Bâteau-Lavoir,” which housed the studios of such avant-garde artists as Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, and Kees van Dongen. Although Utrillo, a close friend of Amedeo Modigliani, was not part of the group centered around Picasso, the Rue Ravignan was for him, as it was for them, the hub of artistic life. The street, situated on the southwestern slope of Montmartre, offered Utrillo a plethora of motifs, focused primarily on buildings rather than landscape. He was drawn to a few buildings of no historical importance and to the shabby shops as depicted in this painting. Here, the white walls, where the paint is heavily applied with the palette knife, convey the impression of dilapidation, particularly in the lower front section of the buildings. The painting belongs to a group of Utrillo’s so-called “maisons tragiques.” Another version of this subject, dated slightly later, is also in The Met's collection (1975.1.213).
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[Niveau Gallery, New York, in 1945]; Alexander and Gregoire Tarnopol, New York (by 1952–70; their gift to MMA)
New York. Niveau Gallery. "2nd Anniversary Exhibition: Maurice Utrillo and Maurice de Vlaminck Masterpieces," April 14–May 15, 1945, no. 2 (as "La Rue Ravignan," 1911).
Washington, D. C. Phillips Gallery. "A Loan Exhibition of Early Paintings by Maurice Utrillo," December 6, 1953–January 11, 1954, no. 10 (as "Rue Ravignan," 1911, lent by Mr. Gregoire Tarnopol).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 7–September 7, 1959, checklist no. 110 (as "Rue Ravignan," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).
Munich. Haus der Kunst. "Maurice Utrillo V., Suzanne Valadon," June 15–September 11, 1960, no. 27 (as "Rue Ravignan," lent by Mr. Gregoire Tarnopol, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 3–September 6, 1962, checklist no. 97 (as "Rue Ravignan," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 12–September 2, 1963, checklist no. 81 (as "Rue Ravignan," lent by Gregoire Tarnopol).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Summer Loan Exhibition: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from Private Collections," July 8–September 6, 1966, checklist no. 193 (as "Rue Ravignan," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 167 (as "Rue Ravignan").
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," September 14–November 24, 2002, no. 25.
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 7, 2002–March 9, 2003, no. 25.
Roslyn Harbor, N. Y. Nassau County Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris," November 19, 2006–February 4, 2007, unnumbered cat. (p. 31).
Alfred Werner. Maurice Utrillo. New York, 1952, pp. 16–17, ill. (color), calls it "Rue Ravignan," dates it about 1911, and locates it in the collection of Gregoire Tarnapol [sic], New York.
Alfred Werner. Utrillo. [New York], 1953, p. 4, colorpl. 7 [reprints Ref. Werner 1952].
Alfred Werner. Maurice Utrillo (1883– ). New York, 1953, unpaginated, colorpl. 15 (overall and detail), calls it "Rue Ravignan" and dates it about 1911.
Pierre Courthion. Montmartre. Lausanne, 1956, p. 142, ill. p. 114 (color), calls it "Place Ravignan," dates it 1911–15, and locates it in the collection of Grégoire Tarnopol, New York.
Paul Pétridès. L'oeuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo. Vol. 1, Paris, 1959, pp. 222–23, no. 172, ill., as "Rue Ravignan," about 1910, in the Tarnopol collection.
Howard Devree. "Summer Oases: Metropolitan Opens a Loan Exhibition—Sculpture at the Modern Art." New York Times (July 12, 1959), p. X8.
Renata Negri. Maurice Utrillo. Milan, 1964, unpaginated, ill. and colorpl. VIII, calls it "Rue Ravignan" and dates it about 1911.
Georges Boudaille. Utrillo. Paris, 1965, p. 14, colorpl. VII, calls it "Rue Ravignan" and dates it about 1910.
Utrillo and the Painters of Montmartre. Milan, 1970, colorpl. 15, calls it "Rue Ravignon" and dates it about 1911; locates it in the collection of Grégoire Tarnopol, New York.
Irina Fortunescu. Utrillo. London, 1973, pl. 13, calls it "Rue Ravignan," dates it 1911, and locates it still in the collection of Gregoire Tarnopol.
Nobuyuki Senzoku. 25 Great Masters of Modern Art. Vol. 15, Utrillo. Tokyo, 1980, p. 116, ill. and colorpl. 26, dates it 1911–15.
Alfred Werner. Maurice Utrillo. New York, 1981, pp. 11, 84, colorpl. 15, calls it "View of the Rue Ravignan, Paris" and dates it about 1910.
Max-Pol Fouchet. Chefs-d'oeuvre de lart, grands peintres. [Paris], 1981, ill. p. 48 (color).
G. de Fiore. Regards sur la peinture. Utrillo. Paris, 1988, ill. p. 17 (color).
Lowery S. Sims inTreasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Yokohama Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1989, pp. 205–6, no. 167, ill. (color), dates it about 1910.
Luciano Raimondi. M. Utrillo et Montmartre. Paris, 1990, p. 9, no. 14, ill. (color).
Johanna Brade. Suzanne Valadon: Vom Modell in Montmartre zur Malerin der Klassischen Moderne. Stuttgart, 1994, p. 34, ill. p. 110 (color), calls it "Rue Ravignan".
Charles Riley II, PHD in Franklin Hill Perrell and Charles Riley II, PHD. Picasso and the School of Paris. Exh. cat., Nassau County Museum of Art. Roslyn Harbor, N. Y., 2006, p. 11, ill. p. 31 (color).
Richard R. Brettell inThe Robert Lehman Collection. Vol. 3, Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Paintings. New York, 2009, p. 272, fig. 1, comments that this picture and a closely related composition in the Lehman collection (MMA 1975.1.213) were probably painted after a photograph on a postcard.
Jean Fabris and Cédric Paillier. L'oeuvre complet de Maurice Utrillo. Paris, 2009, pp. 579–80, 694, no. 117, ill. p. 177 (color), call it "La Rue Ravignan à Montmartre".
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