Gustav Adolf Mossa French, 1883-1971

A Collection of  Works by Gustav Adolf Mossa and Georges de Feure from a Private Collection

The following 41 lots comprise 37 works on paper by Gustav Adolf Mossa and three gouaches and one lithograph by Georges du Feure from a private collection. Dating from 1904-1921, the works by Mossa are the largest and most important collection of his works in private hands ever to come to the market. The wonderful richness of the group reflects the extraordinary range of Mossa's interests, testimony both to his original and idiosyncratic vision and his remarkable powers as a draughtsman.

Mossa's graphic work lies at the heart of his oeuvre. He received his initial artistic training from his father Alexis, a well known academic landscape painter who had studied under Ingres, Cabanel and Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Mossa's subsequent development, however, was inspired by a multiplicity of styles and influences. Literary sources included Shakespeare, Baudelaire, Huysmans and D'Aurevilly; Schumann and Wagner were Mossa's most dominant musical sources of inspiration, while a combination of Mossa's thorough knowledge of the work of Moreau, Beardsley, Art Nouveau and painting of the Florentine Quattrocento informed his graphic development.

Mossa's choice of subject matter was conditioned by his symbolist aesthetic. As for other Symbolist poets and painters of the time, the pivotal theme in Mossa's oeuvre was the battle of the sexes, which is often only resolved through Love or Death. For Mossa, eroticism defined the relationship between Man and Woman, and life, as defined by Love, was a combat in which woman was invaribly the victor. Mossa's visual exploration of such a bleak human landscape resulted mostly in the portrayal of Woman as a diabolical, seductive and sphinx-like creature, and the development of a body of work that both mocks and shocks the viewer, revealing a superb sense of black humour. For example, a delighted Salomé plays with the bloody severed hand of Saint John the Baptist, whilst her cat sniffs his decapitated head incredulously (lot 358).

Mossa's preferred medium was watercolour, following the example of his father and Niçois tradition. He excelled at the technique, adopting Moreau's cloisonné style, precise lines, minute detail and brilliant colours, which were often heightened with gold. His most original and controversial works were arguably produced between 1903 and 1918, the period represented in the present collection of works. After World War I, Mossa progressively abandoned painting. He bequeathed the majority of his graphic oeuvre to the Musée Jules Chéret in Nice, whose curator he had been for nearly fifty years.

Georges de Feure was instrumental in the creation of the Art Nouveau style in France.  A multi-talented, versatile and prolific artist, his creations ranged from Symbolist paintings, lithographs and posters to Art Deco furniture, frames, carpets and glassware. He created ballets for Ravel and Debussy, designed theatrical costumes and stage sets and even constructed aeroplanes.

De Feure's paintings were inspired by the poetry of Baudelaire and Aubrey Beardsley's graphic oeuvre. Like Mossa, he shared Baudelaire's preoccupations not only with the femme fatale, but also those of sapphic love and dandyism.

The present works by Mossa have been examined by Christian Lombart Mossa of the Association Mossa Symbolique, Paris, and will be included in his forthcoming Mossa catalogue raisonné.

Exhibitions:
Where abbreviated exhibition references are used in the text, the complete references are as follows:

1909    Nice, L'Artistique, Exposition d'oeuvres d'Alexis et de Gustav Adolf Mossa
1911    Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition d'oeuvres de G.A. Mossa
1913    Nice, Musée Municipal, Exposition d'images sur l'oeuvre de Schumann par  
           G.A. Mossa
1913    Paris, Galeries George Petit, Exposition d'images de G.A. Mossa, inspirées par l 'oeuvre  de Schumann
1974    Nice, Musée Jules Chéret, Alexis et Gustav Adolf Mossa, peintres niçois
1976    Paris, Espace Pierre Cardin, Exposition Sarah Bernhardt
1978    Nice, Galeries des Ponchettes, Gustave Adolf Mossa et les symboles
1981    Chicago, The David & Alfred Smart Gallery, University of Chicago, The Earthly Chimera and the Femme Fatale: Fear of Women in 19th Century Art
1989    Yokohama, Galerie Motomachi, Gustave Adolf Mossa
1992     Paris, Pavillon des Arts, G. A.  Mossa: L'Oeuvre symboliste 1903-1918

Literature:
Where abbreviated literature references are used in the text, the complete references are as follows:

1905    Louis Merlet, L'Eclaireur de Nice, Gustave Adolf Mossa, Nice, 30 January 1905
1911    Un Domino, Le Gaulois, Echos de Partout, 5 April 1911
1911    Leon Riotor, Le Radical, Echos, 11 April 1911
1913    Paul Brenet, Riviera Mall, Exposition G.A. Mossa, 17 April 1913
1913    Marc Salaise, Le Petit Nicois, Une illustration des oeuvres de Schumann, Nice, 18 April 1913
1976    Jean-Roger Soubiran, Nice Historique, L'evolution de la technique dans les aquarelles symbolistes de Gustave Adolf Mossa, 1976 
1978    Jean-Roger Soubiran, G.A. Mossa et les symboles, Nice, 1978
1978    Jean-Roger Soubiran, Les Aquarelles symbolistes et la creation plastique  symboliste de Gustave Adolf   Mossa, Provence, 1978
1985    Jean-Roger Soubiran, Gustave Adolf Mossa: 1883-1971, Nice, 1985