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Madeleine Luka (1894-1989), Flowers In A Bouquet, Gouache On Cardboard
Madeleine LUKA (1894-1989)
Flowers
Gouache on card
Signed lower left
15.5 x 11 cm
Framed 30 x 24 cm
Born in 1894 in the Val-d'Oise region of France, Madeleine Bottet (known as Madeleine Luka) created her artist's name from that of her husband, Robert Kula. A self-taught artist, she taught herself painting and poetry. She is among the Naïve painters who flourished without a teacher or method.
Madeleine Luka's painting reflects her rejection of technicality and intellectualism, "the scourges of the 20th century" as described by her friend, the writer Francis Jammes (1868-1938)*. Painting the spontaneous candor of the members of her family circle fulfilled a deep need for the young woman. Tender childhood, dreamy adolescence, fragile motherhood, and animals depicted in a festive natural setting are her favorite themes. Her world, constructed like an Eden, is populated by figures filled with grace and innocence. Her paintings deny space and time to suggest the sounds and smells of happy memories, now eternal.
Critics welcomed her work favorably, quickly overlooking the awkwardness of her early work. The historian Élie Faure (1873-1937) saw in it a painting of simple feelings, an invigorating painting that “does not seek conformity outside the heart.” Madeleine Luka exhibited regularly at the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon d'Automne between 1927 and 1938. From 1931 onward, she participated in group exhibitions organized by the Société des Femmes Artistes Modernes (Society of Modern Women Artists), founded by Marie-Anne Camax-Zoegger. In 1935, her work was presented at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery as well as in various post-war French galleries.
*Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, Madeleine Luka, paintings, Paris, André Sauret editions, 1976.
**Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, Madeleine Luka, paintings, Paris, André Sauret editions, 1976, pp. 10-11; presentation of the Madeleine Luka exhibition at the Simonson gallery, April 1931.
Public collections
Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des beaux-artsAlbi, Musée Toulouse-LautrecGrenoble, Musée des beaux-artsL'Isle-Adam, Musée d'art et d'histoire Louis SenlecqAmiens, Musée de Picardie
Bibliography
Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, Madeleine Luka, paintings, Paris, Editions André Sauret, 1976.
Jean-Albert Cartier, Madeleine Luka, Paris, ed. Orfea, 1954.
Flowers
Gouache on card
Signed lower left
15.5 x 11 cm
Framed 30 x 24 cm
Born in 1894 in the Val-d'Oise region of France, Madeleine Bottet (known as Madeleine Luka) created her artist's name from that of her husband, Robert Kula. A self-taught artist, she taught herself painting and poetry. She is among the Naïve painters who flourished without a teacher or method.
Madeleine Luka's painting reflects her rejection of technicality and intellectualism, "the scourges of the 20th century" as described by her friend, the writer Francis Jammes (1868-1938)*. Painting the spontaneous candor of the members of her family circle fulfilled a deep need for the young woman. Tender childhood, dreamy adolescence, fragile motherhood, and animals depicted in a festive natural setting are her favorite themes. Her world, constructed like an Eden, is populated by figures filled with grace and innocence. Her paintings deny space and time to suggest the sounds and smells of happy memories, now eternal.
Critics welcomed her work favorably, quickly overlooking the awkwardness of her early work. The historian Élie Faure (1873-1937) saw in it a painting of simple feelings, an invigorating painting that “does not seek conformity outside the heart.” Madeleine Luka exhibited regularly at the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon d'Automne between 1927 and 1938. From 1931 onward, she participated in group exhibitions organized by the Société des Femmes Artistes Modernes (Society of Modern Women Artists), founded by Marie-Anne Camax-Zoegger. In 1935, her work was presented at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery as well as in various post-war French galleries.
*Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, Madeleine Luka, paintings, Paris, André Sauret editions, 1976.
**Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, Madeleine Luka, paintings, Paris, André Sauret editions, 1976, pp. 10-11; presentation of the Madeleine Luka exhibition at the Simonson gallery, April 1931.
Public collections
Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des beaux-artsAlbi, Musée Toulouse-LautrecGrenoble, Musée des beaux-artsL'Isle-Adam, Musée d'art et d'histoire Louis SenlecqAmiens, Musée de Picardie
Bibliography
Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, Madeleine Luka, paintings, Paris, Editions André Sauret, 1976.
Jean-Albert Cartier, Madeleine Luka, Paris, ed. Orfea, 1954.
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