Auguste Chabaud (1882-1955) Landscape With Electric Lines

Vigorous and spontaneous, this oil on cardboard by the Provençal master Auguste Chabaud. A tireless surveyor of the various sites of his native Alpilles, the artist has once again demonstrated audacity and modernism by representing in this painting what appears to be a level crossing, topped with poles and electrical wires stretched horizontally, contrasting with the curves and rounded shapes of the landscape's mountainous terrain and olive trees. Faithful to his first-draft technique, a sure and minimalist line, significant reserves of the cardboard support give this work from around 1920 a modern and cheeky side compatible with contemporary interior decoration. The work is presented in a modern black frame, of the American box type, which measures 36.5 cm by 48.5 cm and 26.5 cm by 38 cm for the cardboard panel alone. It bears the stamp of the signature at the bottom left, on the back the inventory numbers of the family 0056 and 1006.

Auguste Chabaud entered the School of Fine Arts in Avignon in 1896, and his master was Pierre Grivolas. Then in 1899, he left for Paris to continue his studies at the Académie Julian and the School of Fine Arts, in the studio of Fernand Cormon (1845-1924). He met Henri Matisse and André Derain. His parents' wine estate suffered the crisis of 1900, forcing Auguste Chabaud to return to the South. In 1901, Auguste Chabaud had to leave Paris to earn a living, he embarked as a pilot (or pilot) on a ship and discovered the West African coast. The same year his father died; he inherited with his brother the wine estate and the land that his brother alone would manage. During this period, Chabaud worked a lot on butcher's paper. From 1903 to 1906, he did his military service in Tunisia, from where he returned with sketchbooks filled with local images, including many drawings of soldiers, natives and bar scenes populated with girls and sailors. Back in Paris, Chabaud made his debut in 1907 at the Salon des Indépendants, exhibiting among the Fauves. He was to discover a new life, that of Parisian nightlife and cabarets. Collectors began to take an interest in his work. In Montmartre, where he had his studio, he painted lively or deserted streets and squares, nightlife scenes and brothels. In 1911, he began his Cubist period, working in large formats and sculpting. Many exhibitions followed, including the one in New York in 1913 where he exhibited alongside Henri Matisse, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Pablo Picasso, then in Chicago and Boston. His paintings from the Fauve period depict Parisian nightlife: cabarets, café-theaters, prostitutes, in bright shades of color (yellow, red) contrasting with the colors of the night (navy blue, black). On his return from the First World War in 1919, Auguste Chabaud settled permanently in Graveson, in the Alpilles. From 1920, he began his blue period (he used Prussian blue in its pure state) in which Provence, its characters and its customs were highlighted. The South, which he never stopped painting, even in his Parisian period, would occupy him exclusively from then on. As Paul Cézanne had done with the Sainte-Victoire mountain, Auguste Chabaud immortalized "la montagnette", painting countryside scenes, peasants walking the hills and paths of the Alpilles. He remained there until the end of his life, living as a recluse in his house with his wife and seven children. Nicknamed the "hermit of Graveson", he died in 1955. Some of his works can be seen in Marseille at the Cantini museum, in Paris at the National Museum of Modern Art, at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, and in Geneva at the Petit Palais. In 1992, the PACA regional council opened a museum in his honor in Graveson. Painters regularly pay tribute to him, such as Claude Viallat in 2003. Auguste Chabaud wrote poems and books such as: L'Estocade de vérité, Le Tambour Gautier, Je me suis pris pour Démosthène. Works in public collections France Toulon, art museum: Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, oil on cardboard, 53 × 76 cm. Troyes, museum of modern art: La Gare, 1907, oil on canvas, 73 × 100 cm. Centre National Pompidou Beaubourg Museum Paris Hermitage Museum Saint Petersburg Vatican Museum Rome Switzerland Geneva, Petit Palais Museum