Elisabeth Dujarric De La Rivière (1930-2005) The Good Amélie In The Kitchen

Elisabeth DUJARRIC de LA RIVIÈRE
(Jouy-en-Josas 1930 - Excideuil 2005)
The good Amélie in the kitchen of the Château de la Rivière
Oil on panel
H. 32 cm; L. 17.5 cm
Signed on the frame, countersigned and titled on the back

Provenance: Private collection, Périgord

Born in the heart of the Bièvre valley, a few kilometers from Versailles, Elisabeth Dujarric nevertheless comes from two important families, including the origins are elsewhere. She is the daughter of Marcelle Friedmann, whose parents have retained German ties, mainly in Berlin where Adolphe Friedmann is a prominent businessman. On his father's side, the Dujarric de la Rivière have been living in Périgord for several centuries and their traces can be found in Agonac and Trélissac in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The family moved to Saint Médard d'Excideuil in the northeast of the department, at the famous Château de la Rivière with which they would adorn their name. Scholars, doctors, scientists, artists, the members of this family will bring some additional letters of nobility to Périgord. Elisabeth's father, an eminent researcher, will be a member of the Academy of Medicine in part by his discoveries on the Spanish flu. The Périgueux hospital bears his name even today. In this isolated Perigord house in the countryside, Elisabeth Dujarric will create a workshop where she will work in the summer, while she lives in Paris to get away from the harsh winters.

Within the capital, she will be a fervent protector of the city of artists called "La Ruche", well known to lovers of modern art since a few young people without means were able to create their works there, like Modigliani, Soutine , Léger, Laurencin, Zatkine, Dorignac or even Chagall. After courses in History of Art at the Sorbonne and visits to the Jullian and La Grande Chaumière Academies, Elisabeth Dujarric will receive in 1957 the prize for the Salon de la Jeune Peinture held at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la city of Paris. This award is part of her first period of work where she developed a style all in materials, with broken perspectives, modified hues and focusing mainly on portraits and still lifes. In the 1960s, she changed her style, as evidenced by the exhibitions in the Parisian galleries of the time, where the artist presented everyday subjects in light colors with atypical framing and compositions.

This scene of everyday life at the Château de La Rivière is represented here by Elisabeth Dujarric from an unusual angle. The housekeeper, Amélie, is in the busy kitchen by the sink. She is seen from behind from a distant corridor and appears in this vantage point illuminated by the external sun. Very high, this format gives the subject an importance and a particular resonance between these warm stones. The framing is reversed compared to the usual type. This panel covered with a beige canvas where the artist signed, is actually at the back of the work and serves as a support. This type of presentation was like in the 1950s / 60s.