Riding Out the Storm: The Quixotic Rider, Expressive French Modernist Oil on Board

1940 - 1960

Sold by Skippings Fine Arts

Description

This rider makes me think of Don Quixote, although he is missing the usual attributes of lance and hat. At any rate: ou may not be surprised to hear that the artist who painted him was a quixotic figure: unworldly, frequently drunk, often on the cusp of fame, had it not been for his self sabotaging nature.

Gabriel Terbots-Cechov (1922-1992) was the grandson of the writer Aton Chekhov ...according to some. The poet and composer Léo Ferré took Gabriel, an émigré in France, under his wing. Like so many, he believed in Gabriel's talent and bought his paintings, but Gabriel was difficult to help. Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh invited Gabriel to England, but it is unlikely he ever went. The Rothschilds acquired works by the artist. Paul-Louis Weiller, the millionnaire philanthropist, offered Gabriel a room and board, but on the terms of no alcohol, no women and no dogs. As it so happened, Gabriel loved women almost as much as wine, and had a dog, from whom he was inseparable.

Gabriel had periods of sleeping on the street, but what I believe pulled him through was his great vitality, his appetite for life, which was infectious. If you look carefully, that is exactly what you will find in the painting here: energy and resilience.

It is work by Gabriel Terbots dating from circa 1960, when the artist exhibited at the prestigious Galerie Saint Louis en l'ile in Paris. An oil on hardboard measuring 41 x 33 cm, the painting is signed at the upper left. The overall framed size in a hand sculpted "Montparnasse" frame is 55 x 47 cm

Physical Dimensions

Height

41cm (16.14")

Width

33cm (12.99")

Depth

1cm (0.39")

Declaration

Skippings Fine Arts has dated this piece to the 1960s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA797171

Dealers Notes

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.

Description

Gabriel Terbots-Cechov (1922-1992) was the grandson of the writer Aton Chekhov ...according to some. The poet and composer Léo Ferré took Gabriel, an émigré in France, under his wing.

“

Like so many, he believed in Gabriel's talent and bought his paintings, but Gabriel was difficult to help.

Skippings Fine Arts

Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh invited Gabriel to England, but it is unlikely he ever went. The Rothschilds acquired works by the artist. Paul-Louis Weiller, the millionnaire philanthropist, offered Gabriel a room and board, but on the terms of no alcohol, no women and no dogs. As it so happened, Gabriel loved women almost as much as wine, and had a dog, from whom he was inseparable.

fig 1. Riding out the Storm: the Quixotic rider, expressive French modernist oil on board — fig 1. Riding Out the Storm: The Quixotic Rider, Expressive French Modernist Oil on Board

Gabriel had periods of sleeping on the street, but what I believe pulled him through was his great vitality, his appetite for life, which was infectious. If you look carefully, that is exactly what you will find in the painting here: energy and resilience.

fig 2. Riding out the Storm: the Quixotic rider, expressive French modernist oil on board — fig 2. Riding Out the Storm: The Quixotic Rider, Expressive French Modernist Oil on Board

It is work by Gabriel Terbots dating from circa 1960, when the artist exhibited at the prestigious Galerie Saint Louis en l'ile in Paris. An oil on hardboard measuring 41 x 33 cm, the painting is signed at the upper left. The overall framed size in a hand sculpted "Montparnasse" frame is 55 x 47 cm