Rare gouache of spies by Jane Atche, circa 1925

Frame: 24 1/4" x 30.5"
Gouache: 22.5" x 28.5"

Davids notes:Works by Jane Atche are extremely scarce, as she had a short life as an artist, dying at 55, and many of her works can be classified as ephemera(posters, advertisements, calendars, etc). What is never seen is the works she did in the early part of the 20th century, after abandoning the style of Art Nouveau which was to consume her output for most of her life, giving way to Art Deco and Modernism, just as she is retiring. In this gouache of Spies, discovered in the same group of items as the six De Koonings (the Orrin Reilly storage unit in 2018) we see a masterful transformation for Atche from the sensuous lines and lyrical curves of the Belle Epoque, to the hard black lines that would come to represent modernism and the Art Deco period. Of course the subject matter has changed too, the beautiful sexy women of the Mucha world have given way to the evil, cold camera and sportscar world of the Spook, and Boris and Natasha are ready and willing to start looking for secrets. A wonderful funny reaction to the first World War, apparently a work of art, not a poster or advertising design. An extremely rare work of art from the 1918 to 1935 period in Atches life, just before she died.

Jane Atche
Jeanne Louise Marie Euphrasie Atche (16 August 1872, Toulouse - 6 February 1937, Paris was a French painter and poster artist in the Art Nouveau style.

Her family was originally from Rabastens and her father was an infantry captain. Around 1890, she went to Paris to study at the Art School Julian with Jean-Paul Laurens and Marcel Baschet. She also came under the influence of Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant. It is at this time that she anglicised her first name to Jane.

She made her debut in 1895 at the Salon, displaying a pastel titled Girl with Violets.

The following year, she created her first poster for JOB cigarette papers, which was a great success. Not long after, she came into contact with Alphonse Mucha at the Poster Exhibition of French and Foreign Art and adopted some of his stylistic techniques. For many years, she was the only woman among the numerous French poster artists.

From 1897 to 1911, she was a regular exhibitor at all the salons and galleries. Around 1900, her admiration for Mucha began to fade and she increasingly turned to works of a religious nature. Her art style moved from Art Nouveau towards Symbolism. Her Fiat Voluntas Tua (Thy Will be Done) received special mention at the Salon of 1902. From 1901 to 1905, she illustrated La Poupee Modele, a monthly magazine for girls.

Her sister, Louise, died in 1905 and her father followed in 1907. Shortly before her sister's death, she had married Raymond Leroux, who was five years her junior. He was conscripted for World War I and was killed in 1918, in the Second Battle of the Marne.

After missing the 1905, 1906 and 1907 Salons, she presented a self-portrait "On the Wings of Dreams" at the 1908 Salon. This work was presented under the name of under the name of Atche-Leroux. She also presented a lithograph at the 1909 Salon.

In 1920 she re-married, to the couturier Arsene Bonnaire (1862-1947), an old family acquaintance who had also recently lost his spouse. In 1923, they retired to Rabastens. She became ill in 1937 and went to Paris for treatment. She died there and was interred in the Bonnaire family vault in Vaucresson.

Good condition overall.Provenance: found among the 200 works that contained the six Willem De Kooning paintings in the Orrin Reilly storage unit in 2018.