Georges d'Espagnat (1870-1950) Nude With Horsemen

Warm colors and a striking subject characterize this oil on canvas by the unclassifiable and strong-willed painter Georges d'Espagnat.
The work is presented in a simple 1960s frame, with fabric and a gilt molding, measuring 52 cm x 65.5 cm, while the canvas itself measures 33 cm x 46 cm.
It depicts a seated nude woman, with two horsemen dressed as soldiers in the background.
In good condition, the work is monogrammed in the lower left corner.
This painting, "Nude with Horsemen," comes from the collection of René Domergue (see stamp on the back of the frame), art critic and brother of the painter Jean Gabriel Domergue.
Assembled through his encounters, his collection comprised works created between 1889 and 1930. He bequeathed it to the Bordeaux Museum of Fine Arts, but the museum failed to respect the terms of his will.
His heirs then claimed the bequest, and nineteen years after the critic's death, the Bordeaux courts ruled in their favor.
This collection of 170 lots was auctioned at Drouot-Montaigne on June 21, 2007, by the auction house Mathias-Le Roux-Morel-Baron-Ribeyre (SVV). "Nude with Horsemen" by Georges d'Espagnat was included in this sale, along with paintings by Louis Valtat (40), Jean Puy, Emile-Othon Friesz, Armand Guillaumin, and other masterpieces by the masters of Fauvism and Post-Impressionism. The "Nude with Horsemen" was listed on page 60 of the catalogue (Lot: 74 - Estimate: EUR 8,000-10,000), which specified that Mr. Jacquemond (co-author with Bernard d'Espagnat of the book "Georges d'Espagnat" - Bibliothèque des Arts, Paris 1990) had confirmed the work's authenticity.
Close to the greatest painters such as Renoir, Denis, Bonnard, and Vuillard, Georges d'Espagnat cannot be linked to any specific group of painters.
As Caroline Legrand wrote in an article published on June 9, 2021, in the Gazette Drouot, "d'Espagnat will remain unclassifiable, having himself always rejected any idea of a label…
The young artist honed his skills through copying sessions at the Louvre and discovering the Impressionist, then Nabis and Fauvist artists."
In 1891, this almost entirely self-taught artist participated in the Salon des Refusés, and exhibited the following year at the Salon des Indépendants.
From 1898 onwards, he represented major dealers such as Durand-Ruel and Bernheim.
Despite his resolutely independent nature, he enjoyed a rich career, punctuated by numerous public commissions, notably for the dining room of the ocean liner Normandie in 1935, and for the Luxembourg Palace in 1939.

Works in Public Collections:

Original wood engraving (1895). Gathering of Musicians at Mr. Godebski's (1910).
Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Douai, Chartreuse Museum.
Geneva, Petit Palais: Spring.
Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris;
Musée d'Orsay;
Library-Museum of the Opera: Gathering of Musicians at Mr. Godebski's (1910), 1931 donation, painting depicting members of the Apaches circle, Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi, Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel, Florent Schmitt, Déodat de Séverac, Ricardo Viñes at the piano, at the home of Cipa Godebski and his son Jean, 22 rue d'Athènes in Paris.
Rouen, Museum of Fine Arts.
Saint-Tropez, Musée de l'Annonciade.
Strasbourg, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Tokyo, Masuoka Museum of Art.