The Barefoot Girl, Ca 1948, Gabriel Dauchot Oil on Canvas, Early Galerie Cardo Provenance

Gabriel Dauchot (1927–2005) was one of those rare artists who painted people from the inside out. His figures are seldom conventionally beautiful—Dauchot was an Expressionist, after all—but they possess something far more compelling: authenticity.

Meet The Barefooted Girl.

Painted around 1948, when Dauchot was barely in his twenties, she feels astonishingly fresh. Looking at her, one can almost feel the damp grass beneath her feet. She is no society beauty, nor is she meant to be. She is happy, self-contained, and entirely present. Dauchot depicts her with such tenderness that one cannot help but feel she was a real person—someone who mattered deeply to him. It is a small painting, yet it has enormous presence. Few artists could say so much with so little.

Gabriel Dauchot studied under Othon Friesz and Yves Brayer at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière before entering the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts at the age of just sixteen. Still in his teens, he began exhibiting at the Paris Salons, and before reaching the age of twenty was given solo exhibitions by the prestigious Galerie Katia Granoff and subsequently the Galerie Cardo. In 1951 he received the Prize of the Society of Collectors and Amateurs of Art, prompting critic Claude Roger-Marx to declare: "The winner is under thirty."

Often described as "the painter of the human comedy", Dauchot admired Maurice Utrillo and Chaim Soutine, yet his work remains entirely his own: gentle, nostalgic and profoundly humane. Former French President Jacques Chirac counted himself among Dauchot's admirers, while actress Greta Garbo owned one of his Harlequin paintings.

This early work retains its original Galerie Cardo label on the reverse, providing charming evidence of its early exhibition history. It is signed lower centre and measures 11 × 37 cm. It is presented in its original "Montparnasse frame, which suits the slender, poetic composition beautifully. The overall framed size is 43 x 21 cm

Nous parlons français, und wir sprechen auch Deutsch! Paintings may be viewed in Norwich and in Paris, as well as in London and Cambridge by appointment. Please contact us if you would like further details and images of an artwork.