Manuel Robbe 1872-1936 Women, Children, Men, Brittany, Fishing, Boats

Biography Manuel ROBBE 1872 - 1936 The sea, women, children, men, Brittany, fishing, boats. Framed pretty aquatint etching in colors, circa 1920 numbered lower left: numbered lower left 263 / 350 & signed lower right. View format 50 cm x 35 cm excluding margin. Manuel Robbe, born Emmanuel Robbe on December 16, 1872 in Paris, where he died on July 5, 1936, is a French painter and engraver Emmanuel Robbe was born in the 19th arrondissement of Paris on December 16, 1872. Son of Alfred Auguste Charles Robbe and Marie Alphonsine Henry, the young Emmanuel Robbe studied at the Lycée Condorcet where he became friends with Gaston de Pawlowski, then joined the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, one of the best high schools in France. He then became a student at the Académie Julian where he rubbed shoulders with many personalities, then entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In November 1897, he had a son with Céline Bluem known as "Maud" (1877-1956), also named Manuel, and whom he recognized in 1899 with Jules Depaquit and Georges Delaw as witnesses, at the town hall of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The couple divorced in 1911. Robbe quickly became an accomplished engraver specializing in the aquatint technique. He exhibited regularly in the salons of the Société des artistes français; the Parisian dealers Edmond Sagot, Georges Petit and Pierrefort published and distributed his engraved works. In 1895, his poster for the oil lamp L'Éclatante was reproduced in the magazine Les Maîtres de l'affiche edited by Jules Chéret (1895-1900). An engraving entitled Menuet d'automne was published in L'Estampe moderne (1897). In 1900, at the Universal Exhibition, his work was awarded the bronze medal for an engraving entitled L'été (colour etching, 25.5 × 40 cm). His drawings were published in Cocorico (1898-1900) and Le Frou-frou (1901-1902). Between 1905 and 1907, the Georges Petit gallery presented his work as part of the annual exhibition of the Société de la gravure originale en couleurs. During his life as an artist, Manuel Robbe produced many aquatints, drypoints, etchings and some advertising posters as well as many unique works (oils on canvas, watercolours or pastels). An accomplished sportsman, he was captain of the Beaux-Arts fencing team during the interprofessional championship in Paris in 1912. During the war of 1914-1918, when he was free of all obligations, he enlisted in the air force as a pilot and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with citations for his heroic feats of arms; which explains why there are practically no works dating from this period, but which earned us several engravings representing German and French military aircraft. Manuel Robbe's works are a moving testimony to the lives of the women and men of his time. Manuel Robbe loved to travel and had a real attachment to Brittany, which he depicted on many occasions. Suffering from an incurable illness, he died in the 18th arrondissement of Paris on July 5, 1936, after having devoted a large part of his life to printmaking. He is buried in Nesles-la-Vallée (Val-d'Oise) where he had a second home.