Gilbert-privat (1892–1969) Study Of Dominique

Auguste Gilbert PRIVAT, known as GILBERT-PRIVAT
(Toulouse 1892 – Soulac-sur-Mer 1969) 
Dominique in study
Watercolor
H. 29.5 cm; W. 37 cm
Signed lower right. Titled and dated 1959

The son of a wood sculptor, he naturally began his training in his father’s studio in Toulouse before enrolling at the École des Beaux-Arts in the “Pink City.” He then continued his studies, quite naturally, in Paris, where he enrolled at the ENSBA in Jules Coutan’s sculpture studio.

Upon returning from military service during World War I, he quickly began exhibiting in the major Parisian salons starting in 1920 and received the Prix de Rome the following year. In his works, he developed the purest Art Deco style, which earned him awards as early as 1925 at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs.

Many of his sculptures are one-of-a-kind pieces, but some were produced in series by other companies such as D-I-M or the Sèvres porcelain manufactory. Major works were erected as decorative fountains, war memorials, monuments to the Resistance, and so on. Gilbert-Privat’s work is therefore a common sight in everyday life.

A lesser-known aspect of his body of work is his extensive collection of watercolors and paintings, many of which depict landscapes of places he visited.

His ties to the Périgord were deep… In 1937, he married Odette de Puiffe de Magondeaux, who would go on to publish a biography of her husband sixty years later. Locally, Gilbert-Privat left behind important bronze sculptures, notably those of Fénelon and Montaigne (both cast in 1942), as well as the bust of Yvon Delbos in Montignac. The MAAP in Périgueux houses several of his sculptures.

This watercolor was painted in the summer of 1959. It depicts a young girl seen in a three-quarter rear view, studying on a shaded terrace. Who is this Dominique? The daughter of friends of the Privats? Their granddaughter, even though we have found no record of any children?