Watercolor 'rite Cultuel Grec' Signed Louis Hista (1851-1934) For émile Langlade (1863-1939)

Circular watercolor depicting a woman performing a Greek cultic rite. Signed lower left "L. Hista" for Louis Hista (1851-1934), on the back a handwritten label reads "Au charmant poète Émile Langlade, en toute affection, décembre 1930" signed by the artist. See description below. Framed in veneered wood.

Era circa 1930

Dimensions: Diam. 11.5 cm, depth: 1.2 cm

Louis Hista (1851-1934) French decorative painter active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Louis Hista notably participated in the decorations of the Grand Palais and the Collège de France. His personal work consists of urban landscapes and architectural views, often done in watercolor, in the neoclassical style. He gained recognition in artistic circles during his lifetime, and was cited by several critics of the time.

More specifically, he is featured in writer and poet Émile Langlade (1863-1939), "Artistes de mon temps" published by INSAP, volume n°2, from page 49 to 55. Through these pages, he pays him a beautiful tribute.

This watercolor was particularly dedicated to him, see handwritten note, it refers directly to Émile Langlade's poetic collection "Les Propylées" published in 1896.

Explicitly referring to the Propylaea of the Acropolis in Athens. They become a metaphor for initiatory passage, recalling, but not describing, the rites of transition present in ancient Greek cults (entry into a temple, rites of passage, elevation of the soul).

This philosophically and mystically written book evokes the symbolic threshold between the human and the sacred. As symbolically represented on the watercolor.