Alexandre ROUBTZOFF (Saint Petersburg, 1884 - Tunis, 1949)
View of Rohia (1943)
Watercolor and charcoal on paper, signed, dated and localized lower right "Rohia July 25, 1943. A. Roubtzoff". Framed.
H. 29.5 x L. 45 cm (when viewed).
Provenance
- Gift from the artist to Dr. Éloi Baysse, colonization physician in Tunisia (appointed in 1934), also a friend and physician of the artist.
- Then by descent.
Expert : Maxime Charron
Collection of unpublished works by Alexandre Roubtzoff from Dr. Éloi Baysse, the artist's friend and physician in Tunisia.
"I only came to Tunisia for a few days, and I stayed there for the rest of my life", wrote the artist in his memoirs.
Alexander Roubtzoff, born in St. Petersburg on January 24, 1884, trained in the painting department of the Imperial Academy of Arts under the tutelage of Yan Frantsevich Tsionglinsky (1858-1912), a key figure in his training since Tsionglinsky was considered one of the first Russian Impressionists and was also a great traveler and lover of exotic countries. Between 1907 and 1912, Roubtzoff travelled extensively on a scholarship, taking him to Austria, Germany, Italy and Morocco, where he was unable to establish himself permanently because of the Moroccan campaign, prompting him to travel to Tunisia and settle there in 1914. The First World War prevented him from returning to Russia, and Roubtzoff took up residence in Tunis in an apartment-studio at 33 rue Al Djazira. The October Revolution of 1917 marked a major turning point in the artist's life; he severed ties with his native country, took French nationality and presented himself as "a Frenchman born in St. Petersburg". This new horizon guided him towards plein-air painting, imbued with the warmth of the Sahara sands and the contrasts of the Atlas mountains. The magic of Tunisian light and its unique nuances, as well as street scenes and depictions of Arab life, inspired Roubtzoff throughout his life, creating over 3,000 works of great diversity.
The collection of completely new works presented in this sale is of a truly exclusive nature. Whether portraits or landscapes, these paintings were hitherto unknown to reference books and historians. According to family tradition, all these works originally came from the collection of Éloi Baysse, a doctor from the Cahors region, appointed in 1934 as colonization doctor in Tunisia, which explains why all the works are dated between 1935 and 1948. In his diary, Roubtzoff wrote in 1940: "It's always Dr. Baysse who takes me around the region (...)".
This previously unpublished set shows the range of subjects Roubtzoff appreciated, including two portraits of major importance: the portrait of Arbia (1941) and the portrait of Marie Madeleine Leroy (1946). The portrait of Arbia highlights the artist's talent, mainly in the meticulousness of detail, the beauty of the subject and the sincerity of expression. Roubtzoff sublimates the oriental woman, clearly breaking away from the odalisque stereotype. His Bedouin portraits reveal the nobility and beauty of a people. Every detail and every pigment serves to highlight the beauty of Arbia's face, as does the use of intense blues, vibrant pinks and reds in the fabrics that dress her. As for the portrait of Marie Madeleine Leroy, General Mast's wife, it was probably commissioned by the ambassador's wife. Excelling in worldly portraits, the painter depicts her in her official residence, dressed in European style in a verdant, exotic setting. Once again demonstrating great realism, it's possible to recognize her perfectly, as in this period photo of their arrival in Tunis (see illustration). The collection also includes a number of small-format landscapes, also emblematic of Roubtzoff's body of work, the majority of which are painted in oil on canvas mounted on cardboard, a technique unique to the artist that he called "canvas boards", enabling him to transport them easily and in large quantities.
The collection of Dr. Éloi Baysse's descendants will be presented to the public for the first time. It has been many years since an ensemble of this importance was auctioned off. Their dispersal will enrich the knowledge and corpus of an artist recognized and acclaimed by his peers as "the Russian Orientalist painter", recently honored by the Ga
Estim. 800 - 1,500 EUR
