235 - VIRAC, Raymond-Pierre (1892–1946)

VIRAC, Raymond-Pierre (1892–1946) “Procession of a Cambodian Prince” Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right “Raymond Virac 1934” On the back, a label from the Colonial Export Society dated 1934 Dimensions: H 166 cm × W 345 cm Exhibitions: France, Paris, Grand Palais, Salon of the Society of French Artists and the Society of Fine Arts, April 27, 1934 France, Paris, Grand Palais, 1st Salon of Overseas France, November 28, 1935–December 15, 1935, no. 252 (titled “Procession of a Cambodian Prince”) Provenance: Private collection. Bibliography: “Le Salon,” *Les Annales coloniales*: journal of modern colonial France, founded by Marcel Ruedel, ed. Raoul Monmarson, vol. 35, no. 52, May 8, 1934, p. 2, col. 5. Available on Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France. SANCHEZ, Pierre, La Société coloniale des artistes français puis Société des Beaux-Arts de la France d’Outre-Mer: répertoire des exposants et liste de leurs œuvres, 1908–1970, Dijon, L’Échelle de Jacob, 2010, pp. 15 and 460. Commentary: A French painter trained in Paris, Raymond Virac (1892–1946) settled in Ciboure after his marriage and exhibited with the Groupe des Neuf alongside Ramiro Arrue and René Choquet. In 1927, he won the Indochina Prize and subsequently taught in Hanoi at the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, founded by Victor Tardieu. Upon his return to Paris, he helped decorate the pavilions for the 1931 International Colonial Exposition. Winner of the Madagascar Prize in 1935, he contributed to the decoration of the city hall in Tananarive the following year. Our work depicts five elephants advancing in a frieze through a landscape of palm trees. They carry palanquins housing figures, including a prince dressed in yellow and blue under a white tiered parasol, a symbol of royal dignity. Monumental in scale, this work features a frieze-like composition and vivid blocks of color that firmly place it within the tradition of decorative and colonial painting of the interwar period. This painting is most likely the one exhibited at the 1934 Salon, which *Les Annales coloniales* described as featuring “a procession of elaborately harnessed elephants,” and later presented in 1935 at the Salon de la France d’Outre-Mer. Condition: Losses of paint and restorations. This lot can be delivered to your home anywhere in metropolitan France starting at €56.52 and anywhere in Europe starting at €87.72