Roger de la fresnaye biography channels
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Like these artists, la Fresnaye used vivid colors and a flattened perspective to present the undulating landscape with a dreamy, symbolist, quality.
Oil on canvas - Private collection
1910-11
Cuirassier
In Cuirassier ("cavalry soldier"), la Fresnaye offers his unique re-interpretation of Géricault's The Wounded Cuirassier (1814), in which an anonymous soldier descends a slope, guiding his trepidatious horse by the reins.
But the painting has a more patriotic meaning. He spent his last year of formal education at the Ranson Academy, studying under Paul Serusier and Maurice Denice.
Roger associated with the Cubist painters and became a member of the Section D’or in 1912. The painting represents the Les Nabis philosophy that art should be subjective (rather than realist) and should pursue a harmonious match of line and color style that emphasized pattern and color.
The group, that would welcome such names as la Fresnaye, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Juan Gris, Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Fernand Léger, were united in their quest to explore a more broadly defined, less rigid, mode of Cubism - one than moved beyond the monochromatic and muted color palettes favored by Picasso and Braque.
In la Fresnaye's typical Cubist style, the image is dominated by flat geometric shapes and fields of bold colors. De la Fresnaye died in Grasse in 1925 at the age of 40.
On March 24, 2017 a new record was established for a work by De la Frensaye at auction when "La conquête de l'air, avec deux personnages" sold for €2,370,500 at Christies in Paris.
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In fact, the title informs us that the image was produced in Grasse, on the French Riviera. While he borrowed from Delaunay his wonderful sense of color and line, la Fresnaye's large scale canvases, which favored bold blues, yellows, and reds, shied away from his colleague's push towards collage and abstraction in favor of a figurative art that gave rise to a more accessible, and therefore more popularized, version of Cubism.
Gampert wrote that la Fresnaye spent much time in the garden drawing and painting, shaded by a tarpaulin overhead.
While at Villa Félicie he became close friends with neighbors, Victor Sandeman, a British colonel, Germaine de Joncquières, the daughter of an admiral, and "Lebel", an architect. In addition to landscapes, he also painted a few self-portraits and portraits of his closest friends.
Watercolor on pencil lines on page of a sketchbook - Galerie des Modernes, Paris, France
Biography of Roger de la Fresnaye
Childhood
Roger Noël François de La Fresnaye was one of two sons born in Le Mans, France, where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed.
His health deteriorated rapidly after the war. But, as Serrano adds, "Despite its meekness and conservatism, the installation was attacked by some critics as extremely radical, which helped its premature success and the spread of the term Cubist, which began to be applied, inappropriately, to everything from modern haircuts to women to theatrical performances [and] from painting to sculpture".
La Fresnaye was strongly influenced by Robert Delaunay who had developed his abstract Orphism style that focused on color, movement, and energy.
The shape of the tall trees recalls cypress trees and, considering the style of the building and the geological characteristics of the scene, the viewer gets a sense of being in, or near, the Mediterranean. Above them, a small yellow air balloon, a French flag, and spherical white clouds float against the backdrop of the clear blue sky. La Fresnaye died at the age of 40, with Gampert serving as his primary caregiver throughout his palliative spell.
In Géricault's work, the Cuirassier is not visibly wounded, lending to the interpretation that the title of the work refers rather to the soldier's wounded ego and pride. Roger’s wealthy background enabled him to receive classical education at several art schools in France. Many of la Fresnaye's early works were landscapes.
Roger de La Fresnaye
Roger de La Fresnaye
Self-portrait - Roger de La FresnayeRoger de La Fresnaye
Roger de La Fresnaye (/rɔːˈʒeɪ də læ frɛˈneɪ/; 11 July 1885 – 27 November 1925) was a French cubist painter.
La Fresnaye was born in Le Mans where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed.
The painting is dominated by the colors of the French flag (indeed, one can see the tricolor a in the top left corner of the painting) which represents the artist's strong sense of patriotism (no doubt passed down by his father who was a French army officer) while the geometric Cubist forms, delineated by lines and curves, lend the figures an extra sense of solidity.