Mela Muter (1876 Warsaw - 1967 Paris), Avignon, Saint-Agricole Church, 1935.

oil, panel, 50 × 61 cm
signed l. d.: "Muter"

On the reverse, inscription in pencil: "Avignon St Agricole", stickers from: 1) Gmurzynska Gallery in Cologne, 2) Barger Gallery in Cologne, 3) Maxwell Gallery in San Francisco

Provenance:
- Private collection, Poland;
- Galerie Bargera-Gmurzynska, Cologne

Exhibited:
- "Mela Muter: First One Man Exhibition in America of an Illustrious French Painter," Maxwell Galleries, San Francisco, July 5-August 6, 1966;
- "Mela Muter 1876-1967: Retrospektiv-Ausstellung," Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne, 1967.


"Mela Muter has admirably served Polish painting through the most conscious assertion of her own personality imaginable " [...] She was above all one of those strong individuals, one of the most outstanding explorers of national art. To this alone she owes the fact that she is counted among the "École de Paris."
Thanks to France, she became simultaneously an outstanding representative of "Art vivant" and a great Polish painter [...]. A. Salmon, "Le peinture de Mela Muter", "Pologne Litt&aire" 1933, no. 87, p. 5 (translated from French - B. Nawrocki)

For Mela Muter, both the landscapes of the Rhone Valley and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon or Avignon itself were undeniable sources of inspiration. The very views of the city's buildings from the nearby hills, as well as the picturesque streets or its monuments repeatedly appeared in the artist's paintings bathed in saturated colors. The walls of the 14th-century Fort Saint-Andrew, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Church of Saint-Didier are among the historical buildings of Avignon that appear most often in Melania's work. The Church of Saint-Agricole also joins this list, as exemplified by the painting included in the auction offer. The composition depicts the massive body of the building framed in an economical, muted color palette. The unique quality of the work is the introduction of a staffage element to the composition, in the form of a woman on the stairs. In addition to a very expressive, textured surface, through the artist's use of impasto, the use of a tight frame is also a characteristic feature of her painting.