Francis Gruber (1912-1948)

Lot 77
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Estimation :
35000 - 45000 EUR
Francis Gruber (1912-1948)
Nu au gilet rouge (assis), 1944 Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left 113,3 x 86,3 cm - 43 7/8 x 34 in. PROVENANCE Collection de Catherine Gruber-Bernad Galerie Jean-Paul Ledeur, Paris Collection privée, Paris Vente Rossini S.V.V. du 1er juillet2003 Collection privée, Paris The work that we present to you today reveals the artist's torments following the Second World War. The violence of that period and the horrors of war definitely influenced the artist's production. The latter then represents female and male bodies, naked and emaciated, haunted by the image of death. With Nu au gilet rouge, we find ourselves facing a woman sitting in an interior dressed only in a red waist­coat. Her gaze, neutral and even cold, is riveted on the spectator. Her slightly bluish complexion and rosy cheeks almost blend in with the wallpaper. We can interpret it as a way of representing a spirit lost in the torments of the past. The young woman offers herself to the curious eye but her spirit seems elsewhere. This pale and naked young woman in a corner of her studio is a motif that the artist paints almost obsessively. In each of his paintings, the accessories are the same, like the chair or the vest, and the impres­sion of suffering and confinement remains very strong. Francis Gruber died of tuberculosis at the age of 36, just after receiving the National Prize awarded by the Directorate General of Arts and Letters in 1947. FRANCIS GRUBER Born on March 15th, 1912 in Nancy, Francis Gruber is the son of Jacques Gruber, a renowned glassmaker. As the First World War shook Europe, the family decided to leave Nancy for economic reasons. They moved to Paris in 1916 and established their home and business in the Villa Alesia. Francis Gruber suffered from severe asthma from a very young age and did not attend school, but was taught by his family circle. Very soon, he became intere
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