Henry Mirande (1877-1955), Self-portrait, The Incredible, Circa 1940, Charcoal On Paper

Henry Mirande (1877-1955)
Self-portrait, the Incredible, circa 1940
Graphite pencil and charcoal on paper
On the back, anatomical study of an arm in black pencil and red chalk annotated “these are arms that we no longer make thus »
61 x 47 cm (in a 80 x 60 cm frame)
Provenance: family of the artist
Tiny traces of folding

Painter and illustrator born in Nice in 1877, Henry Mirande is mainly known for his illustrations published in popular satirical magazines in beginning of the 20th century such as Le Rire (1894-1971), L'Assiette au verre (1901-1936) or even La Grisette for which he created the cover of the first issue published in 1894. Henry Mirande thus produced delightful nervous line drawings accompanied by always very fine captions offering a humorous critique of the morals of his contemporaries. The artist also teaches graphic arts at the Académie Julian in Paris.

In the 1920s and 30s, Henry Mirande was entrusted with the illustration of several literary works including François Mauriac's novel, Le Baiser au lepreux (1922), in a 1925 edition by Émile-Paul Frères in Paris including ten eight original lithographs.

Henry Mirande ended up putting an end to the collaborations with the periodical magazines that had provided him with a living until then to retire humbly to his studio in Montmartre. He thus concentrated on his art in isolation, for almost twenty years, and produced a more personal work. It is in this context, secluded on his mound, that Henry Mirande produced an important series of never-exhibited self-portraits, painted and drawn, to which the sheets we present belong. He stages himself in his workshop and represents himself in a clownish manner in varied expressions which prove very touching. We recognize, in his sometimes enigmatic annotations, the humor that characterizes him.

Curator and art critic Robert Rey (1888-1964) organized the first monographic exhibition of Henry Mirande's works at the Stiébel gallery in Paris in 1954, a year before the artist's death. A posthumous exhibition will take place in Brussels in 1957 at the Europe gallery. © A. BIOT