This early to mid-20th-century oil painting by ‘Vincent Le Vaudois’ depicts a still life with an assortment of objects including jugs, bottle, bowl, fruit, tablecloth, basket and newspaper. Produced around 1935, it emerged from a loosely connected community of foreign-born painters known as the ‘School of Paris’.
During the early 20th century, the French capital was alive with artistic spirit. As such, painters flocked from all over Europe in search of inspiration. Many of these were Jewish and tended to live together in Montparnasse, which was a hive of cafes, salons and shared ateliers. The Jewish contingent played an important role in the evolution of avant-garde ideas and later heavily influenced art in Israel. Members were numerous but included Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Abraham Mintchin, Georges Kars, Georges Ascher, Marc Chagall, and Moïse Kisling.
Anti-semitic sentiment was high during this period and rose during the late 1930s, with the prospect of World War II. In the Summer of 1940, the German army marched on Paris, which forced many Jewish artists into hiding.
The painting is signed in the upper left, ‘Vincent Le Vaudois’, but there are no directory records associated with this name. The only reference currently digitised is a newspaper advert from October 1940 relating to an exhibition at the Cours Molière acting school on the Rue Beaujon. It seems feasible, given the quality of the work and timing, that ‘Vincent Le Vaudois’ is a pseudonym.
It remains an intriguing piece, which could have been produced by a prominent figure working amid a bustling Parisian art scene.
Signed in the upper left and framed.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 35” x 39” / 89cm x 99cm
Year of creation: c. 1935
Labels & Inscriptions: EW125 inscription on the reverse. German label with two reference numbers. Due diligence has been undertaken with regard to restitution.
Provenance: Private collection, France.
Condition: Assessed and approved by our conservator. Fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Frame with signs of age.
Our reference: BRV1781
