Reuven Rubin

Orientala By Reuven Rubin

20th century

René Magritte 1898-1967 Belgian Le carnaval du sage (The Sage’s Carnival) Signed “Magritte” (lower right); titled and dated "Le carnaval du sage 1947" (en verso) Oil on canvas The enigmatic paintings of René Magritte have become some of the most familiar and celebrated of the Surrealist movement. Among the most influential of the Surrealist painters of the 20th century, Magritte is an artist of international renown, as beloved for his popular appeal as he is for the psychological intensity of his works. The present oil on canvas, entitled Le carnaval du sage, was executed in 1947 at the height of his career, and it is a tour-de-force example of the haunting, mysterious scenes that comprise his oeuvre. Painted in the years following the Second World War, Le carnaval du sage showcases several recurring themes from Magritte’s oeuvre. Chiefly, a juxtaposition between the visible and the hidden is keenly felt. Throughout his career, Magritte explores the psychological obsession with revealing what is hidden, particularly with regard to the human face. In his Le fils de l’homme, he obscures the face of a man in a bowler hat with an apple, while his Les amants (Metropolitan Museum of Art) conceals the faces of two lovers with white sheets. In Le carnaval du sage, Magritte juxtaposes the blatant nudity of his central figure by masking her face, simultaneously revealing and concealing her from the viewer. The work also incorporates two of Magritte’s most common tropes – the glass of water and the baguette. Lending the scene a strange sense of domesticity, they appear infinitely familiar and distinctly out of place, and thus heighten the uncanny effect of Magritte’s composition. In the background hovers a ghost obscured by a sheet, a figure which was of particular fascination to Magritte beginning in 1946. He once wrote to his fellow Surrealist Paul Nougé: "I saw in a dream an answer to the problem of the ghost: the traditional ghost draped...

Childe Hassam 1859-1935 American The Bather Signed and dated “Childe Hassam” (lower right) Oil on canvas Considered by many to be America’s foremost Impressionist painter, Childe Hassam composed his tranquil and intimate oil on canvas The Bather in the early years of the 20th century. The creation of the artwork aligns with a period of Hassam’s career where the artist’s palette was transforming, matching ever closer with the pale and pastel hues of French Impressionists like Claude Monet. Even the subject — a nude woman — represents a greater alignment with the Impressionist project, as artists of the movement and their non-mythological and non-biblical nudes still generated cries of indecency. With Hassam’s signature brushwork and attention to color, The Bather serves as a dream-like vision, serene and sensuous, of a young woman bathing in a lush forest. While the artist's skill for landscape painting is on display, it is Hassam's command of form, light and color that brings this canvas to life. He creates a captivating composition, placing the nude subject in the bottom left of the canvas. The soft, undulating curves of the woman's body in contrapposto and the glow of her fair skin are balanced by the strong verticals and deep earth tones of the tall trees to her right. Hassam delicately frames the nude in the vivid blues of the distant water, building luminous color that further draws the viewer’s eye and results in a somewhat voyeuristic appeal — endowing his nude with both a natural innocence and an intentional sensuality. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Childe Hassam began his artistic career as a freelance illustrator, working for national publications such as Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s Monthly, and The Century. His first solo exhibition of watercolors took place in Boston in 1883, and he quickly catapulted onto the international scene, winning a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. The year before the present work was created, he received the Webb Prize from the Society of American Artists for another landscape painted at Gloucester. Hassam would receive numerous other awards throughout his career, most notably the Gold Medal for Distinguished Services to Fine Art from the American Dealers Association. A true master, Hassam depicted a way of life characteristic of both American and French society, and his work elucidates a critical chapter in American art history. Today, his work resides in the Oval Office of the White House and in numerous important museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others. This painting will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work. Circa 1905 Canvas: 24 1/2“ high x 20 18” wide Frame: 35 7/8“ high x 31 1/4” wide x 3 1/4“ deep Provenance: Private Collection of William Young...

Guillaume Seignac 1870-1924 | French Mutine Signed “G. Seignac” (lower right) Oil on canvas A mischievous maiden dominates this garden scene by French Academic artist Guillaume ...

This compelling portrait of Salome was composed by the French painter Marie Felix Hippolyte-Lucas. While the celebrated artist's oeuvre is filled with bright and cheerful portraits of aristocratic women surrounded by florals, here he takes a different approach. Hippolyte-Lucas' Salome is simultaneously exotic and highly modern, rendered in a style that is both theatrical and bold. The monumental work's rich color palette is filled with gem-inspired hues that lend drama to the scene, highlighting the blatant sexuality of this legendary seductress. Though Salome is not named in the New Testament, she has appeared time and time again in art and literature over the centuries, as both an innocent and a seductress. Her mother, Herodias, resented John the Baptist, who denounced her marriage to King Herod as unlawful. At one evening meal, Salome danced...

Gil Elvgren 1914-1980 American Partial Coverage Signed “Elvgren” (lower right) Oil on canvas The iconic illustrations of Gil Elvgren have become an irreplaceable facet of the American artistic landscape. Flirtatious beauties in light-hearted situations were the dominant subject matter for this intuitive artist, whose eloquent brush strokes dutifully captured the innocent sensuality of the mischievous girl next door. Partial Coverage, originally published in the 1956 Brown & Bigelow calendar, epitomizes the coquettish spirit of his beauties, whose nostalgic glamor give us a glimpse into a simpler time in American history. Elvgren is considered to be the greatest American pin-up and glamor artist. The majority of his work was done for the famed Brown & Bigelow, though at various points in his career he also worked for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping, as well as large corporations including Sealy Mattresses, General Electric and Coca-Cola. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Elvgren began his artistic education at the Minneapolis Art Institute, and later the American Academy of Art. His first job upon graduation was at the Chicago advertising firm of Stevens and Gross, working directly under Haddon Sundblom, famous for his Coca-Cola Santas. Elvgren would soon become his star pupil, contributing much to the Coca-Cola campaigns and eagerly learning techniques that he would carry into his famed pin-ups. After completing several special commissions with rave reviews, Elvgreen began doing pin-up work in 1937 for the Louis F. Dow Calendar Company, the biggest retailer of calendars of its day. Almost overnight, the artist became one of the most respected and successful commercial artists of his generation. More commissions followed, and, along with his work for Dow, Elvgren found himself booked solid at least one year ahead of his output. It was in 1944 that Brown & Bigelow approached him with an offer for a staff position. From that point on, for the next 30 years, Elvgren enjoyed tremendous commercial success unlike any other American artist of his day. Circa 1956 Canvas: 30 1/8“ high x 24 1/8” wide Frame: 33 3/4“ high x 27 7/8” wide x 1 1/2“ deep Literature: Charles G. Martignette and Louis K...

French Academic painter Louis-Joseph Courtat displays his mastery of composition and the female form in this entrancing oil on canvas. Entitled Baigneuses, the work was painted for and exhibited at the 1885 Paris Salon, the foremost exhibition of painters in the Western world. Large in size, it captures two nude bathers within a tranquil beach scene. While the artist's skill for landscape painting is on display, it is his command of form, light and color that bring this canvas to life. The artist specialized in paintings that glorified the nude, and his skill is clear in the luminosity of his models' skin and the classical beauty of their form and proportions. With their soft, undulating curves and flowing hair, Courtat's models reflect the two key influences on the young painter, that of the great Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres as well as his teacher Alexandre Cabanel. Like these two greats who came before him, Courtat similarly follows in the artistic tradition of the female nude that is traceable to classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Born in Paris in 1847, Courtat studied at the famed École des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel. He was one of the Academic master's first students at the school, where he began to teach in 1864. Displaying considerable skill at an early age, Courtat won the Prix de Rome around 1870, and subsequently studied in Rome for a number of years. He returned to Paris in 1873 to make his debut at the Salon, where he was met with immediate success, receiving a third class medal. He received medals again in 1874 and 1875, a remarkable achievement for a painter of his age. In addition to the monumental nudes...

Oil on canvas by Charles PICART LE DOUX (1881-1959), France, 1939. The Beautiful Girl. With frame: 85.5x72.5 cm - 33.7x28.5 inches ; without frame: 73x60cm - 28.75x23.6 inches. 20F f...

Large oil on canvas by Fernande Horovitz-Edwards, France, 1930s. "Bathers". With frame: 117,5x90x4 cm - 46.3x35.4x1.6 inches. Without frame: 114x87 cm - 44.9x34.25 inches. Signed low...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 20% VAT ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE Nu au canapé bleu y Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro (1878-1952) Oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm (18 ¹/₈ x 15 inches) Signed lower left, Ludovic Rodo Executed circa 1910 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Lélia Pissarro. Provenance: Private collection, France Artist biography: Ludovic-Rodolphe Pissarro, born in Paris in 1878, was Camille Pissarro’s fourth son. Encouraged by his father...

Deux Baigneuses dans un Paysage by GEORGES MANZANA PISSARRO (1871-1961) Oil on canvas 38 x 46 cm (15 x 18 1⁄8 inches) Signed and dated lower left, Manzana Pissarro 55 This work is ...

Accompanied by 1979 exhibition label signed, 'Kleno' for Evgenij Klenø (Dutch, 1921-2005) and titled, verso, 'Charlotte'; additionally titled, verso, on ...

Signed oil on canvas circa 1920 by French post impressionist painter Henri Lebasque. The work depicts a nude brunette woman lying on a beach, her arm draped over her head covering her face. A beautifully brushed piece. Signature: Signed lower left Dimensions: Framed: 22"x27" Unframed: 13"x18" Provenance: With thanks to Denise Bazetoux for confirming the authenticity of this work This painting is included in the Catalogue Raisonne of Henri Lebasque - Volume I No. 1409 Maitre Blache, Versailles, 21st November 1967 Lot 117 Maitre Lombrail, Enghien-les-Bains, 23rd September 1984 Sotheby's, London, 1st July 1987 Lot 317 Miromesnil Fine Art, Paris - 1988 Henri Lebasque studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Angers, then, after moving to Paris in 1886, studied briefly under Bonnat, then under Humbert, whom he assisted in the decoration of the Panthéon. More importantly, he met and learned from Pissarro. In 1893 he met Luce and Signac at the Salon des Indépendants, and as a result he adopted Pointillism for a few years. In the 1900s he lived in Lagny with his family and painted landscapes of the neighbouring Marne forest. His painting underwent drastic changes when he discovered the south of the country. He would thereafter live in other French regions: Vendée, Brittany and Normandy, where he stayed at Les Andelys for some time, but his home from home was between Sanary and Nice. He painted members of his family in the settings in which he lived, mostly in Provence. His work shares some themes of his friend Bonnard. But although he exhibited with the Fauves, and admired Matisse, Rouault, Dufy, Valtat and Manguin (who introduced him to the Midi), he remained distinct from them in style. Lebasque was well known in his lifetime. He collaborated on the decorations of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and of the Atlantic liner Paris. He is remembered for: Nymphs at their Bath; The Sunshade; Girl with Hydrangeas; Great Nude on a Pink Sofa. He took part in the following collective exhibitions: Salon des Indépendants, 1886; Salon des Artistes Français; and later the Salon d'Automne, of which he was a founding member in 1903 and on whose committee he sat until his death. A set of his works was shown in 1937 at Masters of Independent Art ( Maîtres de l'Art Indépendant) at the Petit Palais. In 1957, 20 years after his death, a retrospective exhibition was held at the Musée des Ponchettes in Nice, and in 1981 his works were exhibited at St-Paul-de-Vence. Museum and Gallery Holdings Angers: The Artist's Mother Geneva (Petit Palais): The Child's Toilette (1900) Lille (MBA): Notre-Dame under Snow Nantes: Vallée de la Garde Paris (MAM): The Cigarette; Nude; Woman with Necklace