Félix Labisse

Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 29th June 1999, lot 34
Private Collection (acquired in 2003; sale: Christie's, South Kensington, 22nd June 2012, lot 127)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Paris, Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 13ème Salon de mai, 1957
Paris, Galerie de France, Labisse, 1957
Knokke, Casino de Knokke, Labisse, Rétrospective, 1960
Paris, Musée Galliéra, Labisse, 1962
Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Labisse, Rétrospective, 1969
Culan, Château de Culan, L'Art fantastique et le surréalisme du XVe au XXe siècle, 1969
Knokke-Le Zoute, Galerie Isy Brachot, Labisse, 1973
Brussels, Galerie Isy Brachot, Les 400 coups du Diable, 1975
Ostende, Kursaal d'Ostende, Labisse, Rétrospective, 50 ans de peinture, 1979
Paris, Galerie Isy Brachot, Félix Labisse, Peintures de 1952 à 1981, 1982
Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse, Labisse, Rétrospective 1927-1980, 1986
Cordes-sur-Ciel, Maison Fonpeyrouse, Hommage à Félix Labisse, 2005
Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse & Carcassone, Musée des beaux-arts, Félix Labisse, Rétrospective du centenaire de sa naissance, 2005-06
Portland, Maine, Portland Museum of Art, 2012-15 (on loan)

La Lanterne, Brussels, 1960
Patrick Waldberg, Félix Labisse, Brussels, 1970, illustrated p. 131
Isy Brachot, Labisse, Catalogue de l'œuvre peint, 1927-1979, Brussels, 1979, no. 299, illustrated p. 162

The canvas is not lined. There is a thick milky varnish preventing the UV light from fully penetrating, however there appears to be some scattered retouching along the extreme edges, possibly relating to frame rubbing. There is a line of retouching approximately 6cm long towards the centre of the lower edge and a pin-sized paint loss to the centre of the lower edge. The canvas is gently undulating. This work appears to be in good overall condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A painter, illustrator and stage designer, Félix Labisse was of Flemish and Polish descent and worked both in France and Belgium. A self-taught artist, he was associated with the Surrealist movement and was strongly influenced by James Ensor, whom he met in 1922. In his work, Labisse renders his poetic reveries in a Surrealist style, using a technique of smoothly painted and strongly outlined colours to make them appear almost as a form of hallucination before the viewer. In particular, he specialised in images of women, who haunt his pictures like mythical goddesses. In 1928, he co-founded the Ciné Club in Ostend, which disseminated avant-garde films by Man Ray, Carl Dreyer and Fritz Lang, and he made a film of his own, La Mort de Vénus. He settled in Paris in 1932, and exhibited in group shows devoted to Surrealism with his friends including Robert Desnos, Jean-Louis Barrault, Antonin Artaud, Jacques Prévert, André Masson, Max Ernst, Raymond Queneau and André Breton, although he was never an official member of the Surrealist group.

The source of inspiration for this work was the figure of Gilles de Montmorency-Laval, Baron de Rais (1405-1440), a knight and Lord of Brittany, Anjou and Poitou. A leader in the French army and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais was heir to a vast fortune and forged a distinguished military career. He was, however, later denounced by his family as a spendthrift with a penchant for alchemy and the occult. In 1440, Gilles de Rais was sentenced to death for murder and heresy although the debate regarding his guilt or innocence has long since raged.