Adolphe Péterelle (1874-1947) - Seated Female Nude

Adolphe Péterelle (1874-1947)
Female nude seated
Charcoal on paper
Dimensions of the work: 17 x 10 cm
Dimensions of the frame: 50 x 40 cm
Glued to the two upper corners; on the back: study of heads, charcoal
Provenance: Annette and René Bernas collection, Orsay, France

Painter of Swiss origin, Adolphe Péterelle attended the School of Fine Arts in Geneva before joining Paris in 1891. He moved to Bateau-Lavoir in 1900 where he rubbed shoulders with Pablo Picasso and Théophile Steinlen. In the 1920s, several exhibitions devoted to him aroused the interest of his contemporaries, intellectuals and art dealers. At the end of an exhibition held at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in 1930, renowned artists such as Pierre Bonnard appreciated the quality of his work and acquired some of his paintings. The sculptor François Pompon, who became his close friend, also has several of his works.

An independent artist linked to no school, Adolphe Péterelle composes a poignant and very personal work. Contemporary of Jean Fautrier, his dark and tormented subjects marked with violent expression prove particularly striking. His painted and drawn work mixes nudes and portraits through which he intends to translate the light of the soul that hides the carnal envelope of being.

Adolphe Péterelle seems to have had an important graphic activity. The charcoal figure study that we propose could be part of his research related to the theme of dance that he studied at length. It is a sheet from a sketchbook showing his attachment to the study of the female nude. Adolphe Péterelle not dating his drawings, the very angular aspect of the line and the lack of depth suggest that this study would have been carried out quite early in the artist's work, at the time when he would have suffered the influence of avant-garde artists present at Bateau-Lavoir.

Public collections
Paris, Museum of modern art of the city
Paris, National museum of modern art - Center Pompidou
New York, Metropolitan Museum
Paris, National fund of contemporary art
Toulouse, Musée des Augustins
Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts (donation Pierre Granville, 1976)
Geneva, Galerie Oscar Ghez - Musée du Petit Palais