GEORGES ROUAULT (1871-1958)
'Christ de Profil' Passion from Les Fleurs de Mal (1937)
Colour aquatint, 34 x 23cm

Provenance: With Willie Viertler, London, from whom purchased by Dr Alton,...

GEORGES ROUAULT (1871-1958)
'Christ de Profil' Passion from Les Fleurs de Mal (1937)
Colour aquatint, 34 x 23cm

Provenance: With Willie Viertler, London, from whom purchased by Dr Alton, 1978.

Printed as part of twelve aquatints published by Ambroise Vollard in 1938, whom Rouault had a long and somewhat troublesome relationship with for over two decades. Although Vollard provided Rouault with a studio on the top floor of his own house where he could work undisturbed, he also liked to monopolize the work of his artists in order to isolate them from other dealers and patrons. These aquatints on woven paper were created as illustrations for an edition of Baudelaires volume of poetry Les Fleur de Mal first published in 1857. It would go on to become very important for the symbolist and modern movement. Rouault was a deeply spiritual individual and this manifested itself in his artwork, as reflected in this adoring portrait of Christ. The face expresses a deep confidence with the head held up reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox icons reflecting Christs victory over death won on the cross. In this work there is a clear influence of Rouaults early training as an apprentice of stained glass in which the hard, opaque brushstrokes and thick outlines resemble the lead borders of the windows. His bold washes of paint set against ominous shadows lead to the creation of a highly distinctive and expressive style tied partly to cubist strategy of an abstracted fracturing of space and the Fauvist tendency for rich intense colours.

 

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