Jean SOUVERBIE (1891-1981).

Lot 54
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Estimation :
20000 - 25000 EUR
Result without fees
Result : 72 000EUR
Jean SOUVERBIE (1891-1981).
Jean SOUVERBIE (1891-1981). Lying nude on the beach. Oil on canvas signed and dated 60 bottom right. D.: 64 x 90 cm. Provenance: Vente Allardi, Collection D.M. 15 November 2006. Painter but also decorator, J. Souverbie elaborated an incomparable style that combines the sense of harmony of the neoclassical, the proportions of Greek statuary, the aesthetics of his Nabis friends and the cubist experience. Our painting is a remarkable example of this art of balance between these inspirations, which are both contradictory and complementary. The intelligence and mastery that Souverbie brought to his art allowed him to express himself in various repertoires and to obtain prestigious commissions for very large decorations. It was from the 1930s onwards that he devoted himself essentially to monumental art. In the early 1930s, his style became classic, like that of many artists of his generation (Lhote, Severini, Survage or Picabia). This "return to order", a reinterpretation of the classical ideal, became a European trend (Valori Plastici Movement in Italy). Souverbie befriends Picasso, whom he meets in 1925 during an exhibition with the Section d'or. The Spanish painter, a few years his senior, will considerably influence the artistic conception of Souverbie, who from the 1930s onwards will very quickly become nationally and internationally renowned. The two artists share a common taste for nudes with geometrical forms, discovering sculptural bodies exuding an undisguised sensuality, as in this Elongated Nude. The face fragmented by the shadows, the quadrangular hips and the heavy corpulence of the forms nevertheless exude an enigmatic femininity that is supported by the imperturbable lasciviousness of the pose. The artist will say about his art: "I only did what I liked, that is to say big naked ladies who don't do anything in the sun... These women who do nothing and wait for who knows what; it's a kind of paradise on