Berthe Martinie (1883-1958) - Tiger

Berthe Martinie (1883-1958)
Tiger
Brown ink on paper
Signed on the lower right
Dimensions of the work: 19 x 27 cm
Dimensions of the frame: 40 x 50 cm
Small ink stain (ferogallic?) On the right; micro hole bottom left

Originally from Lot-et-Garonne, Berthe Martinie (née Andrieux) joined the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1906 in the studio of Ferdinand Humbert, the only workshop of the time when women were admitted. She married art critic Henri Martinie in 1913. The following year, the First World War led to the temporary interruption of her artistic activity. At the end of the 1920s, Berthe Martinie gave a new direction to her career by devoting herself exclusively to sculpture.

Self-taught in this medium, she masters the techniques of modeling and direct carving. Supported by critics and well established in the artistic milieu of her time, Berthe Martinie frequented among other things the sculptors Robert Wlérick and Jean Carton. Quickly, she gained notoriety. In 1925, the Parisian gallery Weil devoted his first solo exhibition to him. Berthe Martinie also takes part in several fairs. The State will acquire two of his sculptures at the Salon des Tuileries in 1933 so that they can integrate into the national collections, a Biche and a Taurus. The artist also participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1937 as well as in several group exhibitions in galleries and in French public institutions (Petit Palais, Rodin Museum) but also around the world (Italy, United States).

Her search for truth and her artistic principles link her to the group of independent figurative sculpture. It honors several public commissions including a Bronze Boar made in 1949 and installed in the Wilson Park in Thionville as well as two bas-reliefs adorning the wilderness of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Besides the female nude, animals are among her favorite subjects. She frequents the zoos of the capital where she captures lions, tigers and panthers on the ground. The anatomical accuracy of his work powerfully evokes the suppleness and nobility of these big cats.

The work on paper that we offer is a work of study on a wild animal. This animal subject was very fashionable during the interwar period. In the wake of Paul Jouve, his best representative, many artists try their hand at it. The Berthe Martinie tiger can be linked to this era and this craze. The rest of the animal does not detract from its strength and power suggested by the quick and sure line of the artist's hand. She transcribes here, in a few lines, the strong impression produced by the beast.

Public collections
Paris, Musée d'art moderne de la ville
Paris, Musée national d'art moderne - Center Pompidou
Pau, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Bourges, Musée du Berry
Ottawa, Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada

Selected group exhibitions
Women artists from Europe exhibit at Jeu de Paume, Paris, Jeu de Paume, 1937
Drawings by sculptors II, Paris, Galerie Malaquais, 2008 (source)
L'Animal moderne, Mont-de-Marsan, Musée Despiau-Wlérick, 2013-2014

Bibliography chosen
Nadège Poisson, Berthe Martinie (1883-1958), creator of life, Mémoire de Maîtrise, Bordeaux III, Michel de Montaigne University, 2001