We wish to thank the Comité Anquetin at Brame & Lorenceau, Paris for kindly confirming the authenticity of the present Lot, which will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. Provenance:Christie's London, sale of June 26, 1995, lot 1.Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, Ltd., London, United Kingdom.Acquired directly from the above by the present owner.Exhibited:London, Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, Nineteenth Century French Drawings and some sculptures, June 13 - July 12, 1996, no. 31 (illustrated).Lot Essay:This watercolor is one of several key preparatory studies for Coup de Vent, Pont des Saints-Pères, Anquetin’s celebrated painting now housed in the Kunsthalle Bremen. When first exhibited at the 1891 Salon des Indépendants, the oil version caused quite a stir, critics calling the work disproportioned and fantastical. Yet, Émile Bernard praised it in a letter to Belgian painter Eugène Boch, calling it “very successful, very delicate,” and noting it had “the most perfect coloration” he had ever seen in Anquetin’s work. Today, this painting is recognized as a pivotal moment in Anquetin's career—one that earned him the moniker “painter of modern life,” much like Manet before him.Anquetin draws on the compositional influence of Japanese woodcuts, capturing the restless motion of horse manes as they pull an omnibus across the Pont des Saints-Pères—a bridge now called Pont du Carrousel that connects the Louvre to the Musée d'Orsay. In the background, we glimpse the Île de la Cité and the towers of Notre Dame, yet the cityscape remains secondary. Anquetin’s true focus lies in the fleeting drama of everyday life. A strong wind animates the scene: one woman clutches her hat while another’s coat and flamboyant boa lift dramatically into the air, swirling like the wings of an exotic bird. The cool blue tones evoke the crispness of an autumn day, while bold outlines and flat areas of color—a style later embraced by Émile Bernard, Paul Gauguin, and the Nabis—prompted poet Édouard Dujardin to describe this technique as “Cloisonnism.”Highly stylized, the image blends flattened patterns, asymmetrical composition, and a restrained color palette: elements that anticipate the elongated forms and decorative flair that would soon define the Art Nouveau posters of Toulouse-Lautrec.