Collage From 1916 By Albert Huyot

Superb collage from 1916 measuring 44cm x 31cm (visible area) plus a carved wooden frame 74cm x 63cm. The paper is slightly yellowed, otherwise in very good condition. Signed on the bottom: A. Huyot 1916. Berthe Weil recounts in her memoirs that she scolded several artists to stop copying Huyot (without naming them). It should be noted that the first collages are attributed to Picasso and Braque in 1912. This underscores the importance of this work, dated 1916, in the history of art. The artist cut out pages from the Hôtel Drouot auction house, as well as wallpaper and other materials. After a year at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Albert Huyot became a student of Diogène Maillart. He passed the entrance exam for the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he worked in Gustave Moreau's studio alongside Georges Rouault, Albert Marquet, Henri Manguin, Léon Lehmann, Jean Puy, Simon Bussy, Henri Evenepoel, Eugène Martel, and Henri Matisse. It was after a stay in Collioure in 1911 with Henri Matisse, between 1912 and 1920, according to Gérald Schurr, that Albert Huyot, through his drawings and especially his collages, came much closer to "what Guillaume Apollinaire calls 'physical cubism': like Henri Le Fauconnier and Jean Émile Laboureur, he solidly structured his constructions, synthesizing them while avoiding pushing them to extreme rigor, to dryness and austerity: his fine line, softened by hatching, brought grace to the geometric analysis of volumes." Thus, when the Cubist painter Pierre Hodé took the initiative in 1922 to organize a French art section at the Erste Internationale Kunstaustellund (First International Art Exhibition) in Düsseldorf, Albert Huyot's name appeared among the participants. Correspondence indicates that Albert Huyot's friends and confidants at the time were Marcel Gromaire and Conrad Kickert. "His palette was once very light, Impressionist. From the former, he moved to Cubism, seeking the satisfaction of a fleeting, inexhaustible desire… Having abandoned Cubism, he devoted himself primarily to a painting valued for its mastery of volume and the enveloping tonality of its materials." She has no great audacity, but great fervor… Albert Huyot lived in obscurity and poverty—he didn't make a big deal of it—leaving the way to Derain, to the ten, twenty others he considered great. And it is thanks to a marvel of his passion that he never despaired, or at least that he never gave up. – Élie Richard “Albert Huyot's work, solidly constructed, luminous without excess, meditative with passion, is among those that enchant our eyes, and through these human windows, it acts upon our spirit. It composes a decoration of life, in the fullest sense of the word, and through the resonances of its tones, the volume of its impasto, it strives toward the formal program of intensely elevating this spirit to the greatest spiritual possibilities.” “A profound search for gravity, no flashy or brilliant efforts, but a great calm full of respect in sober harmony—that is Albert Huyot.” – Gabriel-Ursin Langé “Like many artists of his time, Albert Huyot happily dabbled in Cubism. Like many others, he then moved closer to Post-Impressionism to escape the jeers and criticisms of those around him. His work is that of a sensitive and serene painter, with solidly constructed landscapes, vigorous seascapes, and a few intimate scenes of infinite gentleness.” – Françoise de Perthuis Free shipping within the European Union, €250 for international shipping