Oil Painting-signed-henry Caro-delvaille-[jacques Thibaud]-bayonne-bordeaux-19th

HENRY CARO-DELVAILLE Bayonne, 1876- Sceaux, 1928 MUSICIAN TRIO Oil on canvas 150 x 158 cm Signed upper right and dated 1907 Perfect condition Original neo-baroque black and gold frame Henri Caro-Delvaille was a music enthusiast . He played the piano regularly, with a preference for Chopin, and frequented musicians. This painting is therefore that of a music lover, and it is also a manifesto of musical friendship. The artist was linked to the pianist of this trio: Raoul Pugno (1852-1914), keyboard virtuoso who was also a composer. If the cellist remains unknown, Christine Gouzi was able to identify the violinist, who is none other than Jacques Thibaud (Bordeaux, 1880 - French Alps, 1953). One of the greatest violinists of his time, an eminent Mozartian, Jacques Thibaud notably formed a famous trio with Alfred Cortot and Pablo Casals. He was a pupil of Eugène Isaÿe, who was another regular partner of Raoul Pugno. The Bordeaux music conservatory bears the name of Jacques Thibaud, who died in a plane crash over the Alps. UNCLE OF LÉVI STRAUSS “Henry Caro-Delvaille was one of my painter uncles. He was born in 1876. His name was not Henry Caro-Delvaille, but Henri Delvaille. He had made up a painter's name with the first name of his mother, Caroline, who was, I believe, a poetess. They were people from Bayonne. (…) He claimed that he had gypsy blood in his veins, of which he was very proud. He had indeed very black hair, a little curly, with prominent cheekbones; he was brown in complexion. (…) He had no personal fortune, but he was extremely fashionable before the war of 14. He was the great society painter, or at least one of the two to three great society painters of the time. And he won, at that time, money. » Claude Lévi-Strauss (Interviews with Christine Gouzi) - a consignment label attached to the frame, in the name of Caro-Delvaille, shows that he kept this painting and must have left it in a storage room, perhaps when he went to the USA. - the high-quality neo-baroque frame is characteristic of the early 20th century, and its atypical format indicates that it was designed especially for the size of the canvas when reduced. The transformation therefore took place very early, at a time when the painter was still the owner of his work. - bearing the same supplier's mark as the canvas, the frame is original. It may have been carefully shrunk or simply changed. Bibliography: this painting is reproduced in numerous reference works: Christine Gouzi, Henry Caro-Delvaille, painter of the Belle Epoque, from Paris to New York, Editions Faton, 2016. Old photograph of our painting page 153. Gilbert Desport, Directory painters and sculptors of the Basque Country, Atlantica, 2002.