André Favory – Woman At The River – Oil On Canvas – Signed – Circa 1930

Good-sized oil on canvas depicting a nude woman by a river.
Her face is seen in profile, her features and hairstyle are typical of the Art Deco aesthetic. The artist captured his model from ¾ back, emphasizing the curves and materiality of the body.
This woman is standing near a river, against the background of which her bust is outlined.

The work is signed lower left. It is in good condition, slightly relaxed (discreet traces of the stretcher on the canvas in some places). There are two restorations visible on the back, invisible on the front. Some repainting in the sky and at the bottom of the canvas. This work is offered in a black lacquered wood frame, some lack of varnish.

The artist
A French painter born in Paris, André Favory established himself in the interwar period as a singular figure in modern painting, oscillating between post-impressionist heritage and a search for monumentality nourished by Rubens.
Trained at the Académie Julian, he exhibited very early on at the Salons d'Automne and the Indépendants, where his vigorous and sensual style attracted attention. His first paintings bear the imprint of Cubism, but he quickly turned away from it to return to a painting of flesh and light, inspired by the great Baroque masters.

In the 1920s, Favory participated in numerous major group exhibitions, in France and abroad. He was notably found at the Salon des Tuileries (where he regularly appeared), and his works were shown in traveling exhibitions that disseminated French art in Europe and the United States. He was also presented at the Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh, which contributed to his international renown.

His large compositions, often outdoor nude scenes or vibrant landscapes, provoked contrasting reactions: admired for their colorful vigor and sensuality, they were sometimes criticized for their exuberance. Several critics of the time, sensitive to his debt to Rubens, nevertheless praised in him a pictorial breath rare for his time. His work was also noted in Parisian galleries such as those of Bernheim-Jeune and Georges Petit, which supported his career. In 1927, a solo exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg confirmed his status as a recognized artist during his lifetime.

Unfortunately, a serious illness prematurely interrupted his activity: forced to abandon painting at the beginning of the 1930s, Favory died in 1937, leaving a relatively brief body of work but marked by a colorist vitality and a carnal intensity that still earn him the attention of art historians today.

Work visible at the gallery (07240)
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