Maurice Albe (1900-1995) Houses In The Sun In Périgord Noir Sarlat Dordogne

Maurice ALBE
(Beaugency 1900 - Périgueux 1995)
"Houses in the sun" – Périgord noir – 1980
Oil on canvas
H. 38 cm; L. 55 cm
Signed M.Albe' lower left, titled and dated on the back

It was surprisingly in the Loiret, in Beaugency, that Maurice Albe was born on January 15, 1900. A child of the beginning of the century, he joined very quickly moved to Périgord around 1905, where his father took over management of the Sarlat gas factory. A child of the country, his parents being from Quercy, he will know the joys of the Périgord Noir countryside, playing between the old chestnut trees on the arid hills where the rock is exposed. It was also thanks to his uncle, Canon Edmond Albe, that young Maurice saw Sarladais from its heritage side. Walking the hills steeped in history and seeing the peasants working the land, the cultural education provided by this religious will deeply anchor the future artist in his land. The first years of artistic studies took place in Paris after the First World War, where he met the most famous artists of the 20th century. Long days on the terraces of Montparnasse saw him rub shoulders with Picasso, Braque, Juan Gris, Lurçat and especially André Lhote, to whom his work owes so much. These years of training will continue in particular at the Estienne School, holy of holies of the book professions. Previously he attended the ABC drawing school. This arts review will then offer him his first publications, since he signs the cover of a 1925 issue with a wood engraving representing Périgord. It was the beginning of a very long career as an illustrator and creator, since he exhibited his woodcuts throughout his career, and received commissions from numerous writers or publishers in order to image their works. Two people were very important in his life; the historian of Périgord, Abbot Georges Rocal, whose ten works Albe illustrated and followed the advice of this great connoisseur of the customs and campaigns of our country, and Eugène Le Roy, the famous Périgord writer, notably author of Jacquou the Croquant, which the painter illustrated twice in his career. Admirer of the latter for his descriptions of the country and his vision of the peasant world, Albe even took the helm of the Friends of Eugène Le Roy association in 1963 for many years. A third man also counted a lot in the painter's existence, in the person of Pierre Fanlac, creator of the editions of the same name. Its presses located near the Tour de Vésonne in Périgueux have produced numerous high-quality works illustrated by Maurice Albe. After his trips back and forth between Paris and Sarladais, Maurice Albe settled in Périgord in 1946, where we saw his style evolve drastically towards what he himself called "figurative cubism". This technique of partitioning can now be found in all his works, engraved and painted, which generally arise from one another. Knock-kneed peasants resting in front of a village with heavy stone roofs, an old chestnut tree still full of life, a country market from which gossip escapes, a goose herder with a penetrating gaze, are very popular subjects and unsuitable for an artistic staging at first glance. However, Albe will bring all the possible harmonies in his very particular style, having had the chance to receive numerous orders from Périgord institutions, but also regular joint exhibitions with his Parisian painter friends, allowing him to sell his paintings all over the world. . Maurice Albe will also be a drawing teacher in several establishments in Périgueux, both educational and leisure, establishing a link with an entire generation, passing on his passion for Périgord and the know-how accumulated throughout a career spanning seventy-five years. years. At the end of his life he was still rewarded for his work and he left a few days before his ninety-fifth birthday.

It is therefore in the heart of the Périgord Noir, in the town of Plazac a stone's throw from Montignac that Maurice Albe chose to retire in the 1960s. He located numerous Cubist landscapes there, accentuating each color and each steep shape. In 1980, he created this luminous composition in the surrounding area, with Cubist accents. It is in the middle of summer that Albe sketches this partly dilapidated hamlet, whose slate roofs reveal the rafters. The surrounding trees are all dead and stretch their rock-hard branches towards the blue sky, the last witnesses of the past life of this farm.