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Impressionist and Modern Art
|
- Sale 6379
Live
| New York
Oct 28 | 11:00 AM EDT
Live
| New York
Sale 6379
| New York
| New York
Estimate$40,000 – $60,000
We wish to thank Mr. Romain Lefebfre for kindly confirming the authenticity of the present lot on the basis of digital photographs, which will be included in his forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the artist's work.
Lot Essay:
This muscular study relates to Jean Dupas’s grand decorative cycle La Gloire de Bordeaux, painted in 1937 for the apse of the conference hall at the Bourse du Travail in Bordeaux. The monumental composition, still in situ today, celebrates the city’s vitality and prosperity through allegorical figures representing the river Garonne, and various Olympic gods such as Neptune, Bacchus and Ceres, as well as several Muses of the Arts, all surrounding the city’s coat of arms.
Likely depicting the Allegory of Tragedy, as a nod to the city’s important contribution to French theater, the present drawing exemplifies Dupas’s refined synthesis of classical tradition and modern form. A leading exponent of modern classicism, Dupas here combines the precision of an Ingresque line with elongated proportions, a subtle cubist stylization through the mastery use of charcoal, which is characteristic of his mature style. The figure’s sculptural modeling and sensual contours only reveal his exceptional draughtsmanship, which shouldn’t come as a surprise for an artist who won the famous Grand Prix de Rome in 1910, allowing him to study the work of many Renaissance masters, especially Michelangelo, in Rome.
Dupas achieved national and international renown through major decorative commissions, from the Tour des Vins de France at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs to the celebrated Art Deco interiors of the ocean liner Normandie. With the Bourse du Travail project—commissioned by Bordeaux’s visionary mayor Adrien Marquet—Dupas affirmed both his artistic stature and the civic ambition of a city eager to combine beauty with progress.
Framed: 25 5/8 x 25 5/8 x 1 1/4 in.
In overall good condition. The drawing is streaked by preparatory drawing lines, and inset on the paper with a 1/2 in. margin along all borders. The sheet is loose and simply laid down on a larger piece of board, which happens to be the backing board. The sheet is toned, with a warm cream tone throughout. With a pinhole at the upper left corner. Minor rippling on the very extreme outer edges, mostly noticeable at center right. With a small line of abrasion in the margin at upper right quadrant (along the right outer edge). Small rip in the paper, stretching horizontally for about 0 1/8 in. at center left (visible on both sides of the sheet of paper: a pinhole is right underneath it on the recto). We notice a fold in the paper stretching horizontally on its entire width at upper, about 2 in. down from the top outer edge. It is a fold, and not an addition as the verso doesn't show any sign of cutting. The figure's helmet, together with the associated fume coming out of it is an entire collage glued down to the drawing. Small white scuff at bottom center (in between the figure's back and feet). The pastel elements are visible at the bottom right corner, around the signature (yellow powder visible). Additional images available upon request.
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