Raymonde Heudebert (1905-1991), Portrait Of The Writer Edmond Jaloux (1878-1949), Circa 1930

Raymonde Heudebert (1905-1991)
Portrait of the writer Edmond Jaloux (1878-1949), circa 1930
Black ink over pencil lines on paper
Signed “RH” lower right and titled twice upper right and lower on the left
On the back: study of a hand in pencil
Dimensions of the work: 30 x 23.5 cm
Dimensions of the frame: 40 x 30 cm

Born in Paris in 1905, Raymonde Heudebert joined the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in the studio of the painter René Ménard before continuing her training at the Académie Ranson where she followed the course of Maurice Denis. The one who was also the disciple of André Lhote exhibited quickly at the Salon des Indépendants and at the Salon d'Automne of which she became a member from 1920. Her works met with some success in Parisian galleries as well as in the United States during 'exhibitions organized in the 1930s.

Raymonde Heudebert's art is strongly imbued with her stays in Normandy and in the South of France but also her travels through Europe and Africa from which she brings back many landscapes. His very synthetic compositions are marked by the heritage of cubism. She also produces many portraits of personalities from the literary and artistic world in the same post-Cubist vein, including those of Colette, Paul Morand, François Mauriac, Armande de Polignac and even Félix Vallotton.

The drawn portrait that we offer testifies to this constant simplification of volumes in the artist's work. This is the portrait of the French writer and literary critic Edmond Jaloux (1878-1949). This one, also known for his great refinement, was in charge of literary missions in Switzerland for the French government where he will spend part of his life. His numerous articles and essays draw the attention of his contemporaries to modern foreign literatures by authors such as Pascal or Goethe. He was elected to the Académie française in 1936 and founded the Société de Poésie in 1945. Edmond Jaloux also left a fictional work with several titles. We can compare our work to the portrait of the writer that Raymonde Heudebert produced in 1930 for the illustration of his work Le Message, published by Les cahiers Libres.