Jean Durand

Academic Study (Archer)

c.1930s

Black and red chalk on paper, signed and dated (lower right), 31cm x 27cm (50cm x 45cm framed). Delmotte was a painter, draftsman, watercolourist and Belgian sculptor. A realist painter at first, he was influenced by Expressionism of the beginning of the century. An impressive list of gallery exhibitions of his work during his lifetime, either independently or as part of a group, indicate that he was a known and successful figure in art worlds of Belgium and Europe. Marcel Delmotte received numerous awards and honors throughout his career. He was named Knight of the Order of Leopold II...

Charcoal on paper, 56cm x 38cm, (79cm x 60cm framed). Provenance: The Artist’s sister. From the mid-1940s to the early 1950s Colquhoun was considered one of the leading artists of his generation. Along with that of Robert MacBryde, another artist and Colquhoun’s partner, his work was regularly shown at the Lefevre Gallery in London. This early work is likely to be a drawing from when Colquhoun was at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1930s. Known as the ‘Two Roberts’, Colquhoun and MacBryde met at the Glasgow School of Art in 1932 and lived together until Colquhoun’s death in 1962. The pair also exhibited in several group shows at the Lefevre Gallery, including one in February 1946, alongside Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Bacon and Freud. Works were bought by the Arts Council, the British Council, the Contemporary Art Society and the Imperial War Museum. Major art patrons added their work to their collections, including Sir Kenneth Clark...

René-Paris Castaing, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1924, left a large body of work, both sacred and secular. Many churches in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in South-West France still bear witness to the diversity of his talent. In 1942, he began a major decoration project for the Château de Diusse, in the north-east of the county, including an allegory of the four seasons. The vigorous pastel we are presenting here is a study for Spring, depicted as Flore undressing. This commission was a veritable swan song for the artist, who died a year later at the age of 47. 1. René-Marie Castaing, the great inter-war painter in Pau René-Marie Castaing was born in Pau on December 16th 1896. His father, Joseph Castaing, was also a painter: he was the official portraitist of Pau's high society, which was particularly cosmopolitan at the end of the century, when many rich foreigners spent the winter in Pau, taking advantage of the mild weather to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle punctuated by hunting, horse ridings and golf. René-Marie Castaing was admitted to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in April 1920 and entered the studio of Paul-Albert Laurens (1870-1934). In 1924, he was awarded the First Grand Prix de Rome for Painting, which earned him a stay at the Villa Médicis for more than three years. He then returned to Pau in 1928, where he lived until his death. Castaing's work is marked by the academic tradition, in which drawing plays as important a role as painting. Although his drawings are often sketches that help to set up large painted compositions, they stand as independent artworks in which the artist fully expresses the vivacity of his talent. Castaing was a fervent Christian and religious painting played an essential part in his work, as shown by the decorations he created for the churches of Bizanos, Borce, Bidache and Salies-de-Béarn. The painter also created several secular decorations, such as that for the dining room of the Villa Saint-Basil's in Pau in 1935, and the Hunting at the Albret’s time commissioned in 1940 by the Prefecture of Pau. The décor created in 1942-1943 for the Château de Diusse, a mansion located north-east of Pau, was his last large-scale décor, as the painter died shortly after its completion on December 8th 1943. 2. Description of the drawing Our pastel depicts an eminently secular theme: Spring is embodied by Flore, crouching on the ground with one knee touching the ground. She reveals her ample bosom by removing her shirt, her arms raised above her shoulders to undress. Given Castaing's classical training at the Beaux-Arts and the influence of ancient statuary...

A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed, early 1930...