André LHOTE (1885-1962), Friends on the Beach, 1960

Etching, Arches velin paper 35 x 51 cm in light passe - partout, 46 x 62 cm; signed on plate "A.Lhote"; publisher's dry stamp l.d.André Lhote (born July 5, 1885 in Bordeaux, died January 24, 1962 in Paris) - French sculptor and painter. He began learning woodcarving at the age of twelve, when his father gave him an apprenticeship as a woodcarver with a local furniture maker. In 1898 he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux in the Department of Sculpture, and after graduating in 1904 began studying drawing. A year later, he established his own painting studio. In 1907 he moved to Paris, where he worked under the influence of Gauguin and Paul Cézanne, making his debut in 1910 during an exhibition at the Galerie Druet. While his initial works were created in the spirit of Fauvism, by 1912, elements of Cubism became noticeable in his works. This was not typical Cubism, as André Lhote rejected full abstraction in favor of elements of classical painting, among other things, in terms of composition, he explained by the continuity of tradition. In 1912 he joined the Section d'Or and exhibited his works with them. After the outbreak of World War I, he was mobilized into the army, went into reserve in 1917 and became one of the Cubists who belonged to the circle of artists who exhibited their works at the Léonce Rosenberg Gallery. In 1918, he was among the co-founders of the Nouvelle Revue Francaise, an art magazine, where he contributed his columns on art history.From 1918 to 1920 André Lhote was a teacher at the Académie Notre- Dame des Champs, before becoming a lecturer at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and concurrently at his own school, Academie Andre Lhote in Rue d'Odesa, which operated in the Montparnasse district of Paris from 1922. His students included Tamara Lempicka and William Klein and many other artists of the interwar period. Lhote combined elements of classicism with elements of cubism in his compositions and lectured in this own convention. His works are among others in the famous Villa La Fleur collection in Konstancin near Warsaw.In 1955, he received the Grand Prix National de Peinture for his lifetime achievement, and UNESCO appointed the artist president of the International Association of Painters, Engravers and Sculptors.Literature:André Lhote. Ex. cat. Madrid, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación MAPFRE and Musée des beaux-art de Bordeaux, 2007. André Lhote, 1885-1962, Retrospective. Ex. cat. Musée de Valence, 2003. Garcia, F. La Peinture, le coeur et l'esprit: Katalog oeuvres d'André Lhote. Ex. cat. Bordeaux: Musée des beaux-arts, 1986.