1464 - Jean Peské (1870 Perwomajsk, Ukraine – 1949 Le Mans, France)

Jean Peské (1870 Perwomajsk, Ukraine – 1949 Le Mans, France) Maternité Created around 1900 or in the early 20th century, this work by Peské features a flat, two-dimensional composition and is characterized by an intensely luminous color palette, fully in keeping with the Nabis style. Peské explored the theme of motherhood in depth in a series of paintings. After training at the painting school in Kyiv and at the art academies in Odessa and Warsaw, he came to Paris in 1891 to continue his studies at the Académie Julian in the studios of Jean-Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. Artistically, he quickly established contacts with Camille Pissarro, Pierre Bonnard, and Édouard Vuillard, and sought to align himself with the Pointillists, particularly Paul Signac, with whom he traveled to Saint-Tropez in 1893. He also joined Paul Sérusier and the Nabis group, with whom he exhibited at the Galerie Le Barc de Boutteville until 1896. Beginning in 1895, Peské regularly submitted works to the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne; later, he exhibited in major galleries. Peské lived in Montmartre before settling in Bois-le-Roi, southeast of Paris, in 1905. He depicted both family scenes and landscapes featuring trees and the sea in a very colorful palette, traveling throughout France as far south as the Mediterranean. He achieved great renown during the interwar period. His collectors and admirers included, among others, Georges Clemenceau and John Pope-Hennessy. Pastel on paper. Signed lower right. 91 cm x 71 cm. Framed. Lit.: Exhibition catalog “Jean Peské. Dialogue de deux cultures,” Musée National d’Art Russe (National Museum of Russian Art), Kyiv 2011, ill. 51, p. 80. Pastel on paper. Signed.