Georges Rouault – Autumn (Bathers)

Description

Georges Rouault, Autumn (Bathers) is an original Etching with Aquatint print made in 1938.  It is signed in pencil in the lower right, and annotated “Epreuve d’Artiste” (meaning Artist Proof) in the lower left. Chapon & Rouault 288c.

Georges Rouault was a French artist whose work melded Fauvism and Expressionism with its jewel-like tones and bold graphic lines. Alongside Henri Matisse and André Derain, Rouault culled from his spiritual fervor and knowledge of medieval stained glass to produce resonating portraits, landscapes, religious scenes, and still lifes. “For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh,” he once reflected. Born on May 27, 1871 in Paris, France, he apprenticed with a stain glass artisan while studying at the École des Arts Décoratifs, he later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under the famed Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, who became an influential mentor. Between 1895 and 1898, the artist became a devout Roman Catholic as well as going through an emotional breakdown. He came out of this revitalized, moralistic and religious, and displayed an interest in the flaws of society and began frequenting Parisian courts of law to find subjects to paint. Throughout the remainder of his career, much of his work was devoted to the depiction of prostitutes, clowns, and Christ. Rouault died on February 13, 1958 in Paris, France at the age of 86. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.