Details: This striking original oil painting is exemplary of the Claude Venard's distinctive post-Cubist style; abiding fascination with abstracted still life compositions; and extensive use of exceptionally heavy impasto, frenetic scratching, gestural brushwork, and other idiosyncratically expressive techniques.

The painting is signed boldly "C. Venard" in the typical fashion lower left.

The stretcher with crossbar measures approx. 29"x29" and, as is typical, bears numerous inscriptions on verso: "#5030"; "Acq. [Acquired] 1965"; "S/L [Still Life] With Fruit Plate"; "N248"; etc.

There is also a remnant of a period adhesive gallery label on the crossbar, apparently reading "Compo[sition] and Oi[l]".

The piece is beautifully custom framed with painted wood fillet and carved and gilted wood molding to approx. 37"x37".

Claude Venard was a French post-Cubist and still life painter. Known for working in a distinctive angular style, he accentuated the chromatic qualities of his palette through thickly applied impasto paint. Born on March 21, 1913 in Paris, France the artist enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts, but abandoned his studies after only two days—instead, his arts education would come from his job repairing paintings with a master restorer at the Louvre Museum. In 1936, Venard participated in a group exhibition for a new art movement that derided the avant-garde in favor of a return to strict and traditional principles of craftsmanship: the Forces Nouvelles, a group which included the painters Pierre Tal-Coat and André Marchand. Eventually Venard would rebel against them, forging his own post-Cubist style utilizing a wide color palette applied roughly with a pallet knife, creating a visceral, “raw†strain of the geometric aesthetic. Throughout the 1950s, Venard’s paintings became more abstracted, as evidenced in Still Life (1955–1956). The artist’s works are included in the permanent collection of the Modern Art Museum in Paris, the Tate Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Tokyo Museum. He died in Savary, France in 1999.

Please attend our live sale to examine and learn more about this important work of art.
Condition / Notes: This painting shows very nicely with some acceptable age and handling indications including scattered networks of craquelure, minor soiling that is likely cleanable, and occasional abrasions or other surface wear.

The stated shipping cost in this listing will apply only to addresses within the continental 48 states. Within those parameters, the shipping cost for this lot will be: $74.50