Jean Bordes (1911 - 1994),

(facing the church and the former tower-fanal transformed into a bell tower),
oil on canvas signed lower right, 65 x 81 cm on stretcher,
painted faux marble frame, old label (inventory or exhibition?) numbered "85".
Provenance: coll. Mario and Julia Zoutis.

Painter of landscapes, genre scenes, portraitist, but also sculptor, Jean (Charles Paul) Bordes was born on 1^er April 1911 in Courbevoie.
Student at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris in 1930, he won two medals in ornamental drawing and architectural history exercises in 1933; he won two more medals in sketching in 1934 and another in rendered project...Overworked and ill, he had to leave the school.
Finally discharged in 1936, he was hospitalized at the student sanatorium at Saint-Hilaire du Thouvet (Isère) in 1937-38.
He moved to Vic en Arriège in 1939-40, where he worked as a teacher and town hall secretary during the dark years of the war.
In parallel with his studies, he became an architect in Foix (Arriège) from 1942 to 1967.
During this period and beyond, he held a number of administrative positions in education, housing and town planning in his region, both in Toulouse and Paris.
An award-winning artist in his youth, Jean Bordes painted a variety of subjects throughout his life.
Using pastel tones, skilful blends and juxtapositions of color, he gave his works luminous, contrasting and lively renderings.
He died in Foix in 1994.

This animated view of rowboats and sailors depicts a majestic three-decker vessel, commonly known as a "caravel", seen from the starboard stern, maneuvering in the port of Collioure...
Fueled by tales of always uncertain outcome lived and reported by moulte captains, sailors, authors or adventurers, it invites the collective unconscious and our imagination to follow it to the unknown, beyond our lands...

This work comes from the collection of Mario and Julia Zoutis, collectors and dealers passionate about the "Art déco" period.
Mario Zoutis, of Greek origin, was the son of an art dealer specializing in pâte de verre.
Julia, his wife, whose mother was an antique dealer, became an interior designer and enjoyed a remarkable career.
United by their shared passion, they surrounded themselves in Paris and in their Perpignan home with a remarkable array of furniture, sculptures, objets d'art and essentially decorative paintings by the greatest names in Art nouveau and Art deco, but also by talented lesser-known artists with stylish, witty creations.

So, it's no surprise to find such a subject in the collection of the couple who were undoubtedly enjoying the wonders of the region and in particular the very pretty port of Collioure located less than 30 km from Perpignan.
We are faced here with a work executed in one of the styles so particular to this period of Arts deco evoking the world of great crossings, naval battles, and adventures lived around the globe.