Alcide Le Beau (1873-1943) Twilight Of The Gods Circa 1906, Wagner. Fauve Breton, Japonisme

Here are the last four of six works by Alcide Le Beau, following the two oil paintings already offered for sale. This third is a watercolor wash depicting the Twilight of the Gods, circa 1905/1906, signed in the lower left with his usual monogram. This work is a study for his Wagner Tetralogy, The Ring of the Nibelung, here the Twilight of the Gods, a tetralogy he created between 1905 and 1907. The watercolor alone measures 32x42cm and 44x54cm including the frame. In very good condition despite being over 120 years old, it is presented in a lovely contemporary natural wood frame. The work is guaranteed authentic. This work, like the other three, was reportedly exhibited at the Durand Ruel Gallery in 1911; the former owner gave me an excerpt from the catalog of that time. As was his custom during this period, especially in his works on paper, they are very often strongly influenced by Japonisme, as Le Beau was a great admirer of the Japanese masters, and this is evident in his brushstrokes; Le Beau even adopted a Japanese-style signature in the upper part of his works. Le Beau is certainly, along with Léon Detroy, Charles Bichet, and Gaston Thiesson, one of my favorite painters. I have offered a few rare works in the past, but their scarcity means that I only have them very seldom available—about ten in some 25 years. Unfortunately, Le Beau was not helped by certain self-proclaimed experts who regularly reject works on the market that are absolutely authentic, often sublime and major pieces. Why? Is it self-interest or incompetence? In any case, this is very detrimental to the painter...so, fellow collectors and owners, just because you own a work by Le Beau that was rejected doesn't mean it's a fake...I know of many examples, feel free to share them with me... Alcide Marie Le Beau was born on July 30, 1873, in Lorient; some sources indicate a birth year of 1872, but apparently it was 1873. He died on August 12, 1943. He studied at the Jesuit college in Lorient. In 1890, he moved to Paris with his mother. He was the partner of the painter Irène Reno (née Rena Hassenberg). With his partner, he participated in the Section d'Or exhibition at the Galerie La Boétie in October 1912. A painter of the Pont-Aven school, he had been exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants since 1902. A self-taught painter of landscapes and genre scenes, Alcide Le Beau was equally adept at oil painting and watercolor. He was a rare artist whose rapid, tormented brushstrokes and vibrant forms conveyed a unique lyricism. His intimacy with nature is expressed sometimes in thick impasto with brilliant colors, sometimes in smooth impasto with muted hues and simplified forms. Alcide Le Beau was particularly drawn to the intellectualized vision of the Pont-Aven Masters, who had influenced his youth. He was part of the avant-garde alongside the leading figures of the Fauvist movement. A brilliant artist, he was recognized by critics and the most discerning art dealers. In 1902, he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, then at Berthe Weill's gallery from 1903. He was part of the "Cage aux Fauves" (Cage of Wild Beasts) at the 1905 Salon d'Automne, alongside Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse, Maurice Vlaminck, and André Derain. The artist also participated in group exhibitions at Berthe Weill's gallery in Paris in 1903-1904, with Raoul Dufy and Henri Matisse, and then at the Durand-Ruel gallery in 1911. His reputation grew considerably, and numerous exhibitions were dedicated to him in France as well as in Saint Petersburg. In 1906, an exhibition at Vollard's gallery definitively established him and propelled him to the forefront of the art world. In 1907, the Druel gallery organized a retrospective of his Fauvist period, featuring some forty of his paintings. Alcide Le Beau managed to capture atmospheres through a chromatic palette similar to that of Gauguin and Van Gogh. For him, color served only as a support for a gradual and subdued transcription of the primary effect observed in the Fauves. He sought a spiritual and expressive dimension in his works from 1906 to 1908, which corresponds to the apogee of his art. It was during this period that he painted his Corsican landscapes, as well as his vases; subjects drawn from Wagner's operas. Bibliography: Robert Hellebranth, Anne Burdin, Alcide Le Beau 1873-1943, Matute editions, 1988, Paris; Alcide Le Beau, 1873-1943, Musée de Pont-Aven, October 2, 1992 - January 3, 1993. E. Bénézit, volume 8, pages 374-375