I was delighted to be able to acquire four works by one of my favourite artists, Jean Marchand (1882-1941). One of the leading artists of his generation, Marchand was fauve and cubist painter, printmaker and illustrator who became closely linked to the Bloomsbury Group. Works by Jean Marchand are in the collections of the Courtauld, the Tate, and in numerous museums in Britain and worldwide. The National Gallery of Ireland owns five oils by Marchand. In France, works by the artist are in the Museum of Modern art of the City of Paris as well as in the Museums of Lyon, Marseille, Troyes, Grenoble, Céret, Besançon and Saint Tropez. Our four china ink drawings represent summer activities on different days of the week: bundling hay, making haystacks, sunbathing. The may have been conceived with view to an almanac. What is wonderful about them is that they really feel alive, they are so dynamic and filled with energy.With a very early 20th Century feel to them, they were probably created in the 1910s, the decade when Marchand was up-and-coming internationally.In 1910, his painting Still Life with Bananas was exhibited in the 1910 ''Manet and Post-Impressionism'' show organised by Roger Fry, also shown in 1912 in a second exhibition organised by Fry with Clive Bell at the Grafton Galleries in London.Here is the drawing Friday: a day off by the sea, titled on the reverse in French ''Vendredi : Villégiature à la mer''. Signed at the lower right, the drawing measures 24 x 30 cm. The overall framed size with an exceptional mount in marqueterie is 40.5 x 47 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.Height is 24cm (9.4inches)
Width is 30cm (11.8inches)
Depth is 1cm (0.4inches)