Commissioned by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard to emulate a series of earlier works by Monet, Derain made three trips to London in early March 1906, late March–mid-April 1906, and late January–early February 1907. Many of the London paintings may have been executed from sketchbooks after Derain's return to Paris. Among the artist's twenty-nine known scenes, the most striking are those of the Thames, in which he gave free rein to color, inventing red boats and painting the water green and yellow and the sky orange. In this view of Regent Street near Oxford Circle, his palette is more restrained, consisting primarily of subdued blues and strategically placed scarlets. Contemporary photographs of Regent Street show that Derain did not exaggerate. The street and sidewalks were jammed, the population of the city having reached nearly 400,000 at that time.

Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): Derain 1906

[Ambroise Vollard, Paris, by July 1906 or summer 1907; commissioned from the artist for Fr 150]; Alphonse Kann, Saint Germain en Laye, France; Monsieur D..., Paris (until 1925; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 3, 1925, no. 22, as "Regent street [London]," for Fr 5,100 to Édouard); M. Édouard, France (from 1925); Mme Ferdinand Kahn (in 1937); private collection, Paris (by 1947–at least 1950); [Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, until 1953; sold on October 20, 1953, for $16,000, to Gelman]; Jacques and Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1953–his d. 1986); Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1986–d. 1998; her bequest to MMA)

Paris. Petit Palais. "Les Maîtres de l'art indépendant, 1895–1937," June–October 1937, salle 6, no. 9 (as "Une Rue de Londres," lent by Mme Ferdinand Kahn).

New York. Sidney Janis Gallery. "Ten Years of Janis: 10th Anniversary Exhibition," September 29–November 1, 1958, no. 20 (as "A London Street," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman.

New York. Leonard Hutton Galleries. "Der Blaue Reiter," February 19–March 30, 1963, no. 61 (as "A London Street," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman, Mexico).

New York. The Museum of Modern Art. "The 'Wild Beasts': Fauvism and Its Affinities," March 26–June 1, 1976, unnumbered cat. (p. 45; as "Regent Street," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman, Mexico City).

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The 'Wild Beasts': Fauvism and Its Affinities," June 29–August 15, 1976, unnumbered cat.

Fort Worth. Kimbell Art Museum. "The 'Wild Beasts': Fauvism and Its Affinities," September 11–October 31, 1976, unnumbered cat.

London. Lefevre Gallery. "Les Fauves," November 16–December 21, 1978, no. 5 (as "Regent Street," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman, Mexico City).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Twentieth Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," December 12, 1989–April 1, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 82; as "Regent Street, London").

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Twentieth Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," April 19–July 15, 1990, unnumbered cat.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Fauve Landscape," October 4–December 30, 1990, unnumbered cat. (pl. 299).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Fauve Landscape," February 19–May 5, 1991, unnumbered cat.

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "The Fauve Landscape," June 10–September 1, 1991, unnumbered cat.

Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "De Matisse à Picasso: Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman," June 18–November 1, 1994, unnumbered cat. (p. 105).

Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. "André Derain: Le peintre du 'trouble moderne'," November 18, 1994–March 19, 1995, no. 53.

London. Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery. "André Derain: The London Paintings," October 27, 2005–January 22, 2006, no. 13.

"Quelques prix des œuvres de Derain." Les Chroniques du jour 11 (January 1931), p. 17.

Maurice Raynal. Peintres du XXe siècle. Geneva, 1947, colorpl. 18.

Maurice Raynal et al. History of Modern Painting. Vol. 2, Matisse, Munch, Rouault: Fauvism, Expressionism. Geneva, 1950, ill. p. 39 (color).

Georges Hilaire. Derain. Geneva, 1959, pp. 71, 191, pl. 36.

Denys Sutton. André Derain. London, 1959, p. 18.

John Elderfield. The "Wild Beasts": Fauvism and Its Affinities. Exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1976, p. 81, ill. p. 45 (color).

Gaston Diehl. Derain. New York, 1977, p. 36.

Keith Roberts. "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: Edinburgh and London." Burlington Magazine 121 (January 1979), p. 52, fig. 63.

Malcolm Gee. Dealers, Critics, and Collectors of Modern Painting: Aspects of the Parisian Art Market Between 1910 and 1930. PhD. diss., Courtauld Institute of Art, New York, 1981, p. 94, appendix G, pp. 95, 124, no. 248.

William S. Lieberman in Twentieth Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, fig. 3 (color, installation photo).

Pierre Schneider in Twentieth Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, pp. 26–27.

Sabine Rewald in Twentieth Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, pp. 81–83, 298, ill. (color and bw).

Pierre Cabanne. André Derain. Paris, 1990, ill. p. 37 (color).

Judi Freeman. The Fauve Landscape. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1990, pp. 187, 212 n. 17, p. 278, colorpl. 299.

James D. Herbert. Fauve Painting: The Making of Cultural Politics. New Haven, 1992, pp. 23, 33–34, 40, 44, fig. 8 (color).

Michel Kellermann. André Derain: Catalogue Raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Vol. 1, 1895–1914. Paris, 1992, p. 60, no. 92, ill. pp. 50, 60 (color and bw).

Niamh O'Laoghaire. The Influence of Van Gogh on Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck, 1898–1908. University of Toronto, 1992, p. 296.

Sarah Whitfield. "Book Reviews. Fauve painting: The Making of Cultural Politics." Burlington Magazine 135 (April 1993), p. 280.

Jacqueline Munck in André Derain: Le peintre du "trouble moderne". Exh. cat., Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Paris, 1994, pp. 141–42, 471, no. 53, ill. (color).

Jean Louis Ferrier. The Fauves: The Reign of Color. Paris, 1995, p. 67.

William S. Lieberman. "Donation Gelman: l'École de Paris au Metropolitan." Connaissance des arts, no. 554 (October 1998), p. 105, fig. 2 (color).

Rémi Labrusse and Jacqueline Munck. "André Derain in London (1906–07): Letters and a Sketchbook." Burlington Magazine. Exh. cat., April 2004, pp. 246, 252, 259, fig. 48 (color).

Rémi Labrusse and Jacqueline Munck. Matisse Derain: La Vérité du fauvisme. Paris, 2005, pp. 84, 98, 261, colorpl. 66.

Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen and Barnaby Wright in André Derain: The London Paintings. Exh. cat., Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery. London, 2005, pp. 96–97, 142, no. 13, ill. (color).

John House in André Derain: The London Paintings. Exh. cat., Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery. London, 2005, pp. 37, 40.

Rémi Labrusse and Jacqueline Munck in André Derain: The London Paintings. Exh. cat., Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery. London, 2005, pp. 20, 27 n. 7, p. 28 n. 13.