Vlaminck [antikvár]

Sailing Boats at Chatou. 1906. (15" X 18") Capt. Molyiieux Collection, Paris M. Lauricc de Vlaminck was a big man. I am not referring to liis broad chest and thir-teenstone bulk, but to his exuberant personality and to everything in his life that represented movement, noise, sudden fierce desire, laughter, temper, revolt and violence - all of which seem to accord so well with the way lie painted that one might bc tempted to try to explain his art purely in terms of his life. But with an artist things are never so simple. So let us forget, for a moment, that Vlaminck was a racing cyclist in 1893, at the age of 17, a double-bass player in his regimental band in 1897, an anarchist and editor of the journal Lc Libcrtairc in 1899, a violinist in 1900 (he specialised in slow waltzes and boisterous czardas, which he played in the "gypsy" orchestras of the Petit Casino (le Moiitiuartrc and tlic Cafe dcs Princes), a weight lifter, a bilHards player.