André Derain (1880-1954)

La Chute de Phaëton (The Fall of Phaeton)

France, about 1905

Brush, pen and black ink

64 x 35.8 cm

Phaethon, son of Helios the sun-god, persuades his father to let him drive his sun-chariot, but wreaks such havoc that he is struck from the sky by Zeus (Ovid: Metamorphoses II, 150-327).

A popular theme in the history of art, the abstracted and destructive quality of this work illustrates the artist’s role as a leading exponent of Fauvism.

Derain sold the contents of his studio in 1905 to the dealer Ambroise Vollard, whose stamp is on the reverse.

Purchased in 2006 (No. 2006.2)

WORKS ON PAPER

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