Surrealist School / Year 1954 / Jean Angladon (1906-1979) / Oil On Cardboard

This work JEAN ANGLADON is part of the surrealism of the 1950s, an artistic movement that explores the unconscious and dreams. In 1954, the date of this painting, mature surrealism reflects post-war anxieties, including the fear of human destruction.

37 x 45 without frame
50 x 60 with frame monogrammed JA and dated 54 lower right countersigned on the back JEAN ANGLADON / 78 rue Joseph Vernet / Avignon

The painting presents a desert landscape with cut trees and apples contrasting by their apparent life. The stranded boat symbolizes a broken dream, and the reflection of the apples in the water, despite the aridity, adds a surrealist dimension. The work plays on illusion and the duality between dream and reality. The juxtaposition of intact apples in a devastated setting symbolizes the tension between life and death. This contrast evokes the anxiety of the post-war period and the threat of destruction. The image of an interrupted journey, represented by the boat, adds to this interpretation.

Jean Angladon (1906-1979) was a French painter and engraver, also known for having founded with his wife, Paulette Martin (1905-1988), the Angladon Museum in Avignon. The couple enriched and preserved the prestigious art collection that they inherited from Jacques Doucet, a famous couturier and patron of the early 20th century. The museum, inaugurated in 1996, exhibits works by major artists such as Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Degas, and reflects the Angladons' passion for art across the ages, from the Renaissance to modernism. Their artistic commitment is also reflected in a collecting activity that began in 1968, notably acquiring works of art from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The couple, who have no children, bequeathed their collection to a public foundation to ensure the sustainability of this heritage.