André Devambez (1867-1944), A Landscape In The Countryside (rare Early Drawing), Charcoal Drawing, Signed

André Devambez (1867-1944)
A landscape in the countryside
Charcoal on paper
150 x 223 mm / 5,8 x 8,7 inches
Signed lower right

Framed, under glass
Dimensions of the frame: 29 x 35 cm / 11,5 x 13,8 inches

Good condition

André Devambez, who was fascinated by drawing since childhood, was guided and inspired first of all by his father Édouard, engraver, printer and publisher in Paris. His official training began in 1883 in the studio of Gabriel Guay. Then, Devambez became a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris and at the Académie Julian, following the advice of masters such as Benjamin Constant and Jules Lefebvre. In 1890, he won the Grand Prix de Rome and left for the Villa Medici.

This drawing undoubtedly dates from the youth of André Devambez. This hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that we find this signature among drawings dating from the artist's formative years and which are kept at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris (see photo for reference).

Our drawing already testifies to a very interesting sense of composition - which will later certainly be one of the keys to Devambez's art. The perspective of this path in the countryside is quite simple, but it is well paced. The dirt road is winding only for the pleasure of the artist. He draws the cows, the herdswoman and he guides them himself in the landscape. The correspondence of the young artist with his first teacher testifies to this passion for drawing, for the invention of landscapes and imagined scenes.

We seem to recognize in the distance the bell tower of the Saint-Henri church in Neuilly-Plaisance, where the artist's family had a second home. It was in these landscapes that Devambez began his career. Here is one testimony of it, in a well-preserved drawing signed by his first hand, certainly dating from the early 1880s.

2022 will be the year of André Devambez's rediscovery, with a monographic exhibition first at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes and then at the Petit Palais, in Paris. There is no doubt that interest in this artist will continue to grow, as will research around his formative years.