48-B - Antoine Rabany (French, 1844–1919)

Antoine Rabany (French, 1844–1919) The Fiancée Volcanic stone. H 51 W 28 D 22 cm. Provenance: - Antoine Rabany’s studio, Chambon-sur-Lac (Puy-de-Dôme), visible in a stereoscopic view reproduced by Bruno Montpied; - private collection; - collection of Georges Ousset (1923–2003), bookseller at La Bible d’Or, Toulouse, acquired in the 1960s; - by inheritance, Haute-Garonne. Bibliography: Bruno Montpied, *Les Barbus Müller: leur énigmatique sculpteur enfin démasqué*, Geneva, Barbier-Mueller Museum, 2020, reproduced on pp. 36–37, fig. 7. A New Certified “Barbu Müller” by Antoine Rabany, by Bruno Montpied A reminder for newcomers: “Barbu Müller” is a nickname coined by the painter Jean Dubuffet in 1946, at the inception of his art brut collection, for lava sculptures that occasionally featured beards and several of which had been acquired by the Swiss collector Josef Müller. The more new “Barbu Müller” sculptures appear on the market, the more we bring them out of the shadows where they were buried—and this is a good thing for the legacy of Antoine Rabany (1844–1919). On November 7, at Rouillac, a “Barbu” will be offered—once again hailing from the Southwest (as was the case at Primardéco in Toulouse last May). And this time I won’t describe it as “attributed to Antoine Rabany,” because there is indisputable evidence linking it to the fifty or so volcanic rock sculptures created by this peasant-soldier, nicknamed “the Zouave,” sculptures that can be seen in the glass plates I published between 2018 and 2021. At the beginning of the last century (well before 1919), they were on display in a garden on the outskirts of the village of Chambon-sur-Lac (63), likely displayed—for commercial reasons—for the benefit of passersby who came to visit the Romanesque baptistery (10th century, one of the oldest Romanesque buildings in Auvergne) located just above it. Despite the account of an intrigued visitor (Emile Roux-Parassac, the same man who unwittingly gave Facteur Cheval the idea to call his monument in the Drôme “the Ideal Palace”), it has not yet been proven that this patch of land served as his workshop other than intermittently. It looked more like an early version of a garden center… The two pairs of stereoscopic glass plates I’ve published show Rabany’s garden and cabin, sometimes in full bloom and sometimes in the off-season. It is in the latter photograph that we can make out the bust that will go up for auction at Rouillac on November 7—proof, if any were needed, that it came from the hands of the “Zouave.” I must provide an enlargement of it—please excuse the blurriness, as the original resolution was far from perfect, and the photo was taken from a slight distance. Enlarged detail of “Barbu Müller” visible on one half of a double glass negative from Antoine Rabany’s garden, taken sometime between 1900 and 1919; photograph possibly by Albert Citerne, formerly part of the Goldner collection, digital version from the Bruno Montpied archives. It should be compared with the Rabany photograph from the Rouillac auction. And, of course, since the two images do not have the same lighting, the same angle of view, or the same sharpness, those who come across these two photos may hesitate… Yet, let us take the time to examine them closely. The chin, almost prognathic, with thick lips resembling rolls of flesh, is visible in both photos. The apple-shaped breasts—a characteristic often found in Rabany’s busts, as well as in the Barbus Müller busts not yet fully attributed to him—are present in both busts (it is worth noting, incidentally, the large size—50 cm—of the statuette sold in Tours, making it one of Rabany’s largest works). In both photos (which reveal the underlying “skull-like” skull), the general shape of the head appears similar, though slightly more elongated (though this may be due to the angle of the shot). The position of this face, projected forward—which is evident when examining the statuette up for sale in detail—can also be discerned in the photo from Chambon-sur-Lac. Finally, we also find the same objects arranged in a wreath at the back of the skull: roses? Or fruit? This echoes other works by Barbus Müller, notably one published in issue no. 1 of *Art Brut* in 1947: a female figure whose torso was sculpted down to the pubis, surrounded by apples that may symbolize fertility. In conclusion, we are indeed dealing here with a new sculpture that can be definitively attributed to Antoine Rabany, which has returned, after many twists and turns, from his garden in Auvergne to Tours. Bruno Montpied 1 - At the time, I summarized the results of my findings in Bruno Montp