Camille Paul Josso Tristan

Watercolor representing the knight Tristan at the prow of a ship, a calligraphic text on the right specifying the subject. The watercolor is signed and dated 1926 lower left and is framed in a contemporary black and gold frame. Unframed, it measures 19.8x32 cm. A small tear is visible at the edge under the signature. Camille-Paul JOSSO (1902, Nantes - 1986, Paris) Chemical engineer at the General Directorate of Phosphates of the French Protectorate in Morocco, Josso is part of the Association of Painters and Sculptors of Morocco. Founded in 1922 under the mandate of General Hubert Lyautey, this artistic society aimed to promote Moroccan tourism, but also to defend local painting by allowing members to exhibit together under its aegis. Thus, Josso exhibited at the Galerie Georges Petit and, alongside Majorelle, at the Galerie Simonson, rue Caumartin, in 1929. visitors to appreciate the beauty and experience the appeal of this surprising country. These artists, who are too often said to be useless, will have given Paris an attractive lesson in picturesque geography. wrote Gabriel-Rousseau in his article in Le Monde colonial illustré in January 1929. The same year, Josso's works were shown at the official Mamounia pavilion in Rabat; the journal La Terre Marocaine occasionally published a text by De Chabot describing his work: “Josso reproduces landscapes and scenes by imbuing them with mysticism. Impressionist by the way of expressing the light, assembling the colored planes, he draws subservient reality to the decorative impression. ". After his return to France, the artist will continue his taste for the geometry of shapes and flat areas of light colors by devoting himself to the career of illustrator of art books and engraver (see for example The adventures of two French captives in the kingdom of Fez and Morocco or Treaty of the passions).