Georges Rouault

Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired circa 1935)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Bernard Dorival & Isabelle Rouault, Rouault, L'œuvre peint, Monte Carlo, 1988, vol. I, no. 401, illustrated p. 129 (with incorrect medium)

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down, loose in the mount. Apart from some light medium wear to the periphery of the work, this work is in very good condition.
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Throughout his career, Rouault often treated the subject of judges in his paintings, continuing a strong tradition of questioning the judicial system, an iconic example being the caricatures of Honoré Daumier at the end of the 19th century. Whilst the stern figure of the judge reflects Rouault's mistrust of the legal system, there is an element of theatricality in this work that is indicative of a grim interest in the judical spectacle. Rouault was also drawn to their costume: 'The black cap and red robes create a nice spot of colour' (cited in Bernard Dorival & Isabelle Rouault, op. cit., p. 113).

On a more spiritual level, Rouault was bothered by the idea that one man could have the power to judge another. 'Do not judge others, Jesus had said, adding on another occasion, let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone. What, in this light, is to be said of these men - as sinful as anyone else - whose profession it is to sit in judgement on their fellows, and who are paid for the sentences they mete out? If I have depicted these judges with such appalling faces, it is probably because I betray some of the anguish I felt before the spectacle of a human being sitting in judgement over his fellow-men' (ibid., p. 113).

If Rouault's early depictions of judges and tribunals were filled with more demonic depictions of these men, this violence was gradually replaced by a sense of irony, even of the ridiculous. In this work, with its bold composition and expressionist brushstrokes, the judges are depicted as bulbous, passive and uneducated figures, a less pointed but equally powerful commentary on the place of judgement in contemporary society.