Marcel Loth (1919-2009) Triptych 1959

Marcel LOTH
(L'Aigle 1919 - Ajat 2009)
Triptych
Watercolor on paper
H. 38 cm; L. 23 cm each view
Signed lower right, dated 1959

Provenance: Private collection, Périgueux

Born in the Orne region of France, Marcel Loth moved to Périgueux at the age of 27 to open an architectural practice. Self-taught, he picked up his brushes in 1943, working initially around portraiture and caricature. After the war, he began his long path towards non-figuration, which would lead him to flamboyant pieces of thick materials and unstructured geometric figures.

During his life, Loth was a friend of the Périgord-based Jean Boyé, a discreet painter, and of the great Roger Bissière, who was a great inspiration. The painter's subjects are varied: modeled landscapes whether of the Périgord or the Bassin d'Arcachon, cubic cityscapes, portraits and figures, or the sign paintings, symbolic of his work.

This set of three sheets, two of which are hozizontal, was created by Loth in 1959, blending realism and cubism, placing forms in a cloisonné. The three works respectively depict a city bustling with Republican celebrations, a river or canal bank, and a town or village with trees (vertical subject).

These brightly colored leaves are of great interest in the artist's work for their realism. Where abstraction often has its place in the years that follow, here it's merely an interpretation that Loth proposes.