4400 - Raphaël Drouart, Oriental Scene

Raphaël Drouart, Oriental Scene Men and women at the well in the oasis drawing water; a painting with a slightly impasto texture, broad brushstrokes and vibrant colours; oil on cardboard; indistinctly signed, dated and inscribed with the location ‘Giessen 1916?’ in the lower right-hand corner; R. Drouart", modern annotation on the reverse of the frame: "Raphael Drouart 1894-1972, 1916 Gießen prisoner-of-war camp”, minimal signs of ageing, beautifully framed, inner dimensions approx. 37.5 x 47.5 cm. Artist’s biography: actually Maurice Raphaël (Raphael) Drouart, French graphic artist, painter, sculptor and illustrator (1884, Choisy-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne - 1972, Nogent-sur-Marne), studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Fernand Cormon from 1903, exhibited at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1909, undertook a study trip to Italy in 1910, Germany and the Netherlands; subsequently a pupil at the Académie Ranson under the Symbolist and co-founder of the ‘Les Nabis’ art group, Maurice Denis; in 1912-13, he worked alongside Maurice Denis on the painting of the ceiling of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; from around 1914 onwards worked primarily as a graphic artist; volunteered to serve in the First World War in the Argonne, was taken prisoner there in 1915 and interned at the Giessen prisoner-of-war camp until 1918; from 1918 onwards worked primarily as an etcher, copperplate engraver, lithographer and mezzotint artist in Paris; member of the Société de la gravure sur bois originale; exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1919; in the 1920s, a member of the artists’ group ‘L’Evolution’, Appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1938; settled in Les Portes-en-Ré on the Île de Ré from 1940; lived at the artists’ residence in Nogent-sur-Marne from 1965; Source: Vollmer, Saur, ‘Bio-Bibliographical Artists’ Encyclopaedia’, Bénézit, information from the Musée Ernest Cognacq in Saint-Martin-de-Ré and the internet.