Maurice Delavier
Naughty Pussies!! Hommage a Matisse, Oil on Canvas.
1982

Name: Naughty Pussies!! Hommage a Matisse, Oil on Canvas.
Brand: Maurice Delavier
Price: 2816.91 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Late 20th century oil on canvas of an interior scene with cats and fish by French artist Maurice Delavier, signed and dated (November '82) to the bottom right. Presented in fine wood frame with velvet insert. A totally charming, beautifully drawn and painted work depicting cats unable to overcome the temptation of fresh fish in the kitchen. Delavier was an illustrator first and foremost and this shows in the technically brilliant rendition of the cats and fish. The painting has great movement, energy and light with a nod to Matisse in the decorative patterns, vibrant colour choices and flattened forms especially in the background. This is a painting executed towards the end of his life, but showing a lifetime of artistic skill, and is unusual as the subject is rare for him. Maurice Delavier was a French orientalist painter, photographer and engraver . Son of florists, Maurice Delavier was born on November 9, 1902 in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, the salon of French Artists in 1925 and the Autumn Salon with great success. His main body of work were landscapes and orientalist scenes, so this is a rare and unusual subject for him. A prisoner during the Second World War, he made around 80 sketches of life in a stalag and compiled these in a book titled 'An artist's view of prisoners of war'. Twenty two of his drawings were lent by the Chateauroux Archive to the 'Museum of the Résistance and Deportation' in the central French county of Cher. Delavier was also known for his contribution as an illustrator to a number of novels during the 1930s, notably The Woodwinds of 'Raboliot' a novel by Maurice Genevoix (1927). Maurice Delavier lived at no. 25, quai des Augustins when he married in 1933, the photographer Alice Schmidt. Following the family tradition, throughout the 1930s, he kept his job as a flower broker. With his wife, they continued to reside near the Seine in a house with other painters at No. 19, quai Saint-Michel. It is from this home, during the liberation of Paris on June 19, 1944, that he took photographs which are now kept at the Musée Carnavalet. He lived there until his death. Delavier died on November 23, 1986 and is buried in Soisy-sur-Seine cemetery.

Creator:

Maurice Delavier (1902 - 1986, French)

Creation Year:

1982

Dimensions:

Height: 24.81 in (63 cm)Width: 28.35 in (72 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)

Medium:

Canvas,Oil

Movement & Style:

Modern

Period:

1980-1989