415 - TOBEEN - Felix BONNET (1880–1938)

TOBEEN - Felix BONNET (1880–1938) Picardy Road Oil on canvas, signed lower right, before 1929. Signed and titled on the back of the stretcher with the address “3, place du Petit-Marché / St Valéry s/ Somme” and number T-4680. 46 x 55 cm (Original canvas, framed) Exhibition: Salon d’Automne, Paris, November 3–December 22, 1929, no. 1602. Provenance: - Former collection of G.J. Nieuwenhuizen Segaar, Netherlands. - Christie’s Amsterdam auction, May 31, 1994, lot 80. Bibliography: - Rosella HUBER-SPANIER, *To Be a Poet of Cubism*, ed. 99 Publishers, 2012. Listed as work no. 12. - G. KAHN, *Le Mercure de France*, Salon d’Automne, December 1, 1929. Exhibited at the 1929 Salon d’Automne, this oil on canvas by the artist does not depict a Basque subject. Nevertheless, it is of great significance in terms of the context in which it was created. Praised by the critic Gustave Kahn in his review for *Le Mercure de France*, this composition incorporates elements of modernity, which were the focus of attention in 1929. Indeed, the year 1929 and that edition of the Salon d’Automne saw the work of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand come to the attention of the general public through two major creations: the LC4 chaise longue (patented on April 8, 1929) and the presentation at that same Salon of the famous “Equipement d’habitation,” which would lay the groundwork for modern and contemporary design. 1929 also marked the founding of the Union des Artistes Modernes (U.A.M.) and its founders’ break with the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs (SAD), Art Nouveau, and the assertion of color. This context is essential for understanding our work. The painting technique and choice of color palette are resolutely modern and faithful to the artist’s creations, who developed his pictorial language through Basque landscapes. Movement, meanwhile, plays a significant role in his works from the late 1920s: the 1927 painting *La Nageuse*, which recently appeared on the public auction market, demonstrates this. The focal point of our composition lies in the rupture depicted in the lower left corner of the painting. A motorcyclist races down the road at full speed past a peasant woman and her ox. This contrast between tradition and modernity is firmly rooted in the spirit of the times. Through this depiction, the artist embraces the modernist ideologies developed by the U.A.M. and expresses, in his own way, this desire for a break with the past and a fascination with mechanics. The aesthetic of an internal combustion engine and the raw simplicity of mechanics pierce the tranquility of this Picardy road, symbolizing a rupture between Basque rural life and the advancing modernity of northern France. The rustic, frontal architecture, depicted here in ochre tones—which is reminiscent of the colors used to depict La Rhune (Basque Coast Auction, April 18, 2026, Lot 237) —also contrasts with the new architecture of northern France and the creation of the quintessential modern building: the Villa Cavrois, designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens that same year. One final detail: a figure in profile is depicted at a window in the center of the composition. This figure appears to be a painter at his easel—a self-portrait?