Edgar Scauflaire "pierrot And Colombine" Self-portrait Expressionist Cubist Work, 1947

"The painter and his muse" self-portrait, pencil drawing on paper made in 1947 by Edgar Scauflaire in his studio painting his muse. This work on the theme of "Commedia dell'arte" is a self-portrait where the painter represents himself, brush and palette in hand, as Pierrot (the sad clown) sketching his model Colombine in front of his easel. The nude painting he creates is in the cubist style. It is a perfect synthesis between cubism, the art deco style, and dreamlike expressionism. It is undoubtedly a project for a larger painting such as an oil on canvas or a mural. Good condition, paper a little yellowed, note that there are reflections on the photos because the painting is framed under glass. Dimensions with frame: 53 x 43cm. Biography: Edgar Scauflaire (Liège1893 - 1960) was a painter from Liège and also an informed art critic (pseudonym Jean Hibou). He began his studies at the Collège Saint-Louis in Liège but did not complete them. He joined an amateur theatre troupe and enrolled in courses at the Académie royale des beaux-arts in Liège, where he was taught by Auguste Donnay, Adrien de Witte, François Maréchal, Émile Berchmans, and Ludovic Bauès. At the beginning of his studies and until 1925, he devoted himself mainly to drawing, graphite combined with pastel, through portraits and allegorical works, marked by the simplicity of the line and the modernity of willingly sophisticated compositions. From the mid-1920s, he devoted himself increasingly to oil painting, easel painting, but also large murals for special commissions, such as the decoration of the great hall of the Salle Philharmonique de Liège, formerly called the Royal Conservatory of Liège (1952-54). He also produced large paintings on glass, stained glass windows, tapestry cartoons, and theatre curtains. All his work is marked by a light and magical dreaminess inherited from Chagall, sometimes bordering on the naïve, and by a harmonic balance that is always subtle. Like the painters of the Paris school, he worked a lot on the female body, which was one of his favourite themes. He produced many portraits and familiar scenes, where cats are often present; let us also mention his many harlequins. Some sources attribute nearly 6,000 works to him.