Bernard BOUTET DE MONVEL (1881-1949)

Lot 23
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Estimation :
1000 - 1200 EUR
Bernard BOUTET DE MONVEL (1881-1949)
Dromedary facing left Pen and black ink, tiled with pink pen 13 x 19 cm. When war broke out in August 1914, Bernard Boutet de Monvel took part in the fighting as a reservist and was wounded during the Battle of the Marne. After a short stint in the train, he joined the air force as an observer-bomber. From 1915 to 1917, he distinguished himself many times on the eastern front, which he left for Morocco, where he was awarded a Legion of Honour and five commendations. He settled in Fez, where the 551st squadron was based, in October 1917. General Lyautey, who was then Resident General of France in Morocco, encouraged him to pick up his brushes, which had been neglected since the declaration of war. From his terrace, he observed the old town of Fez at all hours of the day, and captured its geometric rendering with a strong spirit of synthesis. He also tries, as a respectful witness, to sketch the daily life: the alleys sometimes empty, sometimes busy, beggars, water carriers, slaves or women in haik. He also goes to Rabat and Marrakech, with its famous palm grove whose leaf patterns he likes so much. Demobilized in March 1919, Boutet de Monvel offers a singular and powerful vision of Morocco, far from fantasies, artificial exoticism and outrageous palettes. An elegant sobriety that would inspire his friend Jacques Majorelle, who, ten years later, in March 1928, confessed to La vigie marocaine: "But remember that my first mistake was to do like the others: multiply the colours. Only in the long run did I fully realise that the various ensembles of this country could be rendered by simple values". On the occasion of the "Raid Citroën" of 1922, the first crossing of the Sahara by car, led by Louis Audoin-Dubreuil and Georges-Marie Haardt, Boutet de Monvel was offered the production of 16 illustrations for the story they intended to publish. The dromedary studies we are proposing are certainly preparatory to the vignette on page 27, whic
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