If you thought New Orleans was just about decadent food, jubilant jazz, and the world’s most raucous celebrations, think again. This unique gem among the great American cities is also home to one of the finest collections of fine art in North America. But you won’t find this visual treasure trove on just any Big Easy street corner. Much like the secret courtyards nestled behind French Quarter historic homes, only those “in-the-know” can enjoy these stunners. To admire this collection, you have to step behind the “secret door” at M.S. Rau Antiques, a French Quarter landmark for more than 104 years and one of the leading art galleries in the United States today.That secret door leads to a 5,000-square-foot space that houses innumerable paintings one might expect to find in the high-end galleries of New York, London, or Paris. Bill Rau, third generation owner, has made it his mission to amass this highly important selection of works, which range from Renaissance masterpieces to contemporary canvases of the 21st century. Following the creed that has helped his gallery survive for over a century, Rau procures only the very best of artworks, and that quality is reflected in the remarkable collection in this space.Vincent van GoghLa Chaumière sous les Arbres (The Cottage under the Trees)Circa 1885Oil on canvasOffering considerable insight into the development of this legendary master’s oeuvre, this important work is part of a series of “cottage” paintings van Gogh completed between 1883 and 1885. Yet, the evocative work is distinguished among others from the series in its heightened use of light. For the first time, we see van Gogh incorporating a lighter color palette into his standard earthy tones. A sprinkle of wildflowers presages the vivid coloration of his later work, while his sweeping brushstrokes and heavy impasto portend the swirling canvasses van Gogh will compose half a decade later. At the time of completion, van Gogh was nearing the end of a two-year period spent in Nuenen, the southern Netherlands, a time that was one of the most significant periods in this great master's career.Henri de Toulouse-LautrecLa Promeneuse (The Walker) | Signed, Dated 1892Oil on CardboardAt once intimate and aloof, La Promeneuse is a quintessential Toulouse-Lautrec. Made legendary by his vivacious prints and posters of Montmartre, this rare painting displays his unique ability to capture candid moments. Here, he sketches the back of his subject with a degree of sensitivity and originality that lends her a timeless seduction. Given by Toulouse-Lautrec to the French artist Jules Contant, the piece represents a rare personal gift from one famous artist to another.Claude MonetAu Val Saint-Nicolas près Dieppe, Matin (At Val Saint-Nicolas near Dieppe, Morning) |Signed, Dated 1897Oil on canvasThis breathtaking view of the Atlantic from Val Saint-Nicolas is part of a series of works that remain among the most celebrated of the artist's career for their exquisite pastel palette. Through a symphony of pinks, pale oranges, light greens and soft blues, Monet captured with an unsurpassed mastery the effects of light and atmosphere in this visually stunning landscape. Never before seen in his earlier works, these delicate pastel shades suggest a lightness and luminosity that permeate his works from this moment forwards. In Au Val Saint-Nicolas près Dieppe, Matin, we witness a crucial moment in the evolution of the master's palette which, retrospectively, is considered an important precursor to his renowned Water Lilies series.Giovanni BoldiniRitratto di Rita de Acosta Lydig (The Rothschild Boldini) | Signed, Dated 1911Oil on canvasAmong the most sought after portraitists of his day, Giovanni Boldini was once dubbed the "Master of Swish" by Time magazine. Here, he captures the likeness of the socialite popularly regarded as "the most picturesque woman in America," Rita de Acosta Lydig. A woman renowned for her fiery personality, sensational style and unmatched beauty, Lydig served as muse for some of the most celebrated artists of her era. Boldini paints her at her most fashionable, in a dress of 11th century lace and shoes made exclusively for her. One of the few full-length portraits from Boldini's oeuvre, it is no surprise that when the all-important French dealer Wildenstein purchased her estate in 1931, he sold this work to his most important client, the significant collector Baron Maurice de Rothschild. This portrait, known as the Rothschild Boldini, is counted among Boldini’s greatest masterpieces. Norman RockwellThe Golfer | Signed, Circa 1920Oil on canvasThe great American illustrators of the 20th century often portrayed scenes of everyday American life for the renowned Saturday Evening Post — from holiday meals to radio repairmen to, yes, even golf. Yet, this composition of a frustrated golfer and his shocked caddie by Rockwell proved a bit too impolite for the traditional publication. Unfortunately for Rockwell, upon seeing a visibly frustrated and presumably cursing golfer, Horace Lorimer, then editor of the Saturday Evening Post, rejected it as a cover. While it was never published, this humorous scene is quintessentially Rockwellian, perfectly conveying an all-to-human emotion of frustration on the green. Seemingly quite tame and comical by today's standards, the work is a wonderful snapshot of a bygone age. Willem de KooningTwo Women | Signed, Circa 1963Oil on paper mounted on vellumWith its ethereal figures that seem to dissolve into the canvas, Two Women is reflective of de Kooning's long-lasting flirtation with abstraction. An important precursor to his seminal 1963 painting Clam Diggers, this work is part of one of the most important series of de Kooning's career. Two Women represents a significant departure from the aggressively rendered forms of his earlier career, demonstrating the extraordinary range he brought to this recurring motif throughout his lifetime. In his Clam Diggers series, he claimed, “I see clam diggers bending over, up to their ankles in the surf, their shadows quite unreal, as if floating. The whole secret is to free yourself of gravity!”Marc ChagallLe Repas des Amoureux (The Romantic Dinner) | Signed, Circa 1980Gouache, watercolor, India ink, pencil and chalk on paperChagall presents a vivid narrative of both romantic and neighborly love. A young couple is depicted, seemingly in prayer, at a dining table in the center of the composition. All around them, Chagall has infused the canvas with joyous figures who appear to float above and around the scene; along the upper border, these figures are painted upside down, strengthening the impression that the community has surrounded this young couple with support and affection. Simultaneously naïve and hopeful, the composition communicates Chagall’s vision of one peaceful family of humanity, one world of brotherly peace.The list of great works continues as one room opens into another behind the secret door. Works by William Bouguereau, John William Godward, Peder Monsted, John Grimshaw, Fritz Wagner, Achille Laugé, two remarkable Pieter Brueghel the Younger paintings and even an oil on canvas by one of the most important statesman of all times, Winston Churchill, are all on display. For those who enjoy collecting 21st century art, M.S. Rau Antiques offers a Pop Art composition by Tom Wesselmann, a poignant scene of immigrant life by Martha Walter, a moonlit walk in a Surrealist cityscape by Paul Delvaux, and a larger than life Queen of Sheba from Cuban-Spanish master Federico Beltrán-Masses.Over the years, M.S. Rau Antiques has offered remarkable works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Montague Dawson, Rosa Bonheur, Paul Gauguin and Jean-Leon Gerome, among many others. The rooms behind the secret door are available for viewing 6 days a week. All one needs to do is ask for a tour and a Fine Art consultant will happily take your breath away. M.S. Rau Antiques is located at 630 Royal Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA 70130 and by phone at 877-352-4721. No plans to visit New Orleans? Many works from M.S. Rau’s Fine Art collection will be on view at the annual Aspen Fine Art Fair July 2-10, 2016.
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