Lot 53. Maria Melania KINGSLAND, known as MELA MUTER (Warsaw 1876 – Paris 1967). Portrait of a Young Woman – The Millstones (circa 1940)/ Double-sided oil on panel, signed lower right 61 x 50 cm Provenance: Model’s family To understand the particularity of this double composition, we need to explain the portrait. Estimate €60,000 – 80,000. Ivoire Group. 05/27/26

The model, Jeanne Durand (aged 13 at the time), recounted that Mela Muter had suggested to her mother Yvette Durand, then headmistress of the Lycée de Jeunes Filles d’Avignon (from 1936 to 1945), that she paint her portrait in front of the Pont Saint-Bénézet (Avignon’s bridge). The two women knew each other well and had mutual friends in the Resistance. Yvette Durand provided services to the network of Rodez pastor Idebert Exbrayat, whom she had met when she was headmistress of the Rodez secondary school. Due to material shortages, Mela Muter was forced to paint the portrait on the reverse of a picture she had previously painted, depicting a harvest scene on Barthelasse Island, with Philippe-le-Bel’s tower on the left and Fort Saint-André on the right. An artist whose output expanded after she settled in France, she became an important figure in what came to be known as the École de Paris. In 1902, she presented her work at the Salon des Beaux-Arts, where she subsequently exhibited regularly. Three years later, she participated for the first time in the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Indépendants. It was then that she came to the attention of art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Initially influenced by Symbolism, her painting soon evolved into an expressionist style. She converted to Catholicism in 1924, after the death of her father. However, during the Second World War, she felt threatened by the Nazi occupation because of her Jewish origins. She left Paris for Avignon, where she taught drawing, art history and literature. Expert: Elisabeth and Philippine Maréchaux

Spośród tych dwóch różnych obrazów Meli Muter, namalowanych na obu stronach płótna, zdecydowanie preferuję pejzaż Meli Muter nad portret młodej kobiety, choć to oczywiście kwestia gustu. Płótno to powinno pobudzić do zdecydowanej walki aukcyjnej.