Gouache On Paper Depicting A Stylized Crouching Woman Signed By Henri Laffite

Gouache on paper of a crouching woman on the edge of abstraction signed Henri Laffite lower right. Painter and sculptor, Henri Laffite was introduced to painting at the age of 12 by his father; very precocious, he made his first sculptures at the age of 15 then entered the Toulouse School of Fine Arts the following year before joining the Paris School. At the same time, he developed his experience as a sculptor in Auguste Rodin's Studio. During his Parisian years, in the Montparnasse district, he became friends with Fernand Léger and Aristide Maillol. After the Great War, he left for Portugal where he found success, exhibiting in particular at the Lisbon Opera, then returned to Paris in 1921 where he devoted himself to sculpture by designing plaster models for major architectural projects while leaving his mark on the capital's major cinemas as well as at the 1937 Universal Exhibition where he decorated the Portuguese pavilion. Before the Second World War, he left for Thonon les Bains where he created the frescoes for the Church of the Sacred Heart of Crete with the Nabi painter Maurice Denis. After the Second World War, he returned to Portugal and then to Brazil where he settled and completed stained glass projects for nearly 80 churches. He returned to his native South-West in 1960.

Dimensions: Gouache (on view) 29 x 23cm With frame 42 x 36cm