Biography from Lawrence Cantor Fine Art:
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Alfred Delobbe was born in Paris in 1835. In 1851, he entered the
l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts and studied under Thomas Couture (1815-1879) and
William Adolph Bouguereau (1825-1905), as well as at the Imperial
School of Drawing. In 1861, he showed for the first time in
the salon des artistes Francais, a portrait of his mother that drew
much attention to his work. Delobbe painted only what is
considered fashionable for the time, which is very academic subjects
completely in the artistic taste of the era, and did not stray far from
these methods in his lifetime. During the 1860s, he sent work to
the Salon, with most of the subjects being mythological or similar
scenes, in the purest form that he was trained as an academic
painter. His work brought a variety of rewards as well as honors
of the state, notably for the decoration of the city hall in the
fifteenth district in Paris. He painted like his teacher W.A.
Bouguereau in the purest classicism 'but as soon as he escapes from
constraints of his Paris schooling, official commissions, and
portraits, he returns to the countryside and becomes very sensitive to
every day life, using the colors of the skies in Breton, to the simple
and the little romantic attractions of the peasants that he observes
with passion.'
Delobbe knew nothing of Brittany; it was only after meeting the artist,
Alfred Guillou (1844-1926), in a Paris workshop, when Guillou took him
home to the beautiful city of Concarneau, his native city. Thus
Delobbe discovered Brittany, which held a very important place for his
life's work. He did a magnificent portrait of Mélanie Guillou,
the sister of Alfred Guillou, and after he finished the painting he was
so inspired, that Concarneau always held a special place in his heart.
From the 1870s the female figure dominated his oeuvre. Inserting
women and children into his painting plane took over the importance and
immediacy of his subject matter, mostly incorporating them in
landscapes, pensive, or working, and always barefoot. This body
of work was presented to the Salon from the 1880 to1920. The
press wrote:
'Among our French provinces, Brittany has been preserved through the
centuries, with its own language, customs, and its special face.
Also, painters and writers, who explore the local color, are driven to
seize the moment, by the brush or the feather, all the different
aspects. Delobbes encounter, through the moors and hills of
Breton, with its working peasants are the life blood of the area.
Through hard work in their daily occupations, they will rediscover
their religion or family lines, their traditional heritage of the
richest effect. ..'
When Delobbe and his family would come to Brittany they would
frequently stay at the Concarneau l' France Hotel, located near the
train station, sharing their time with friends and fellow artists
Charles-Henry Fromuth (1858-1937), Ernest Germain Vauthrin (b.1900) and
Emil-Benediktoh Hirschfeld (1867-1922). He often went looking for
models in Beuzec and Lanriec; he would do many studies in plein-air,
that he resumed in his parisian workshop in the winter. As most
of his studies were of the early beautiful days of spring and the
beginning of summer, they were always reminiscent of the way of
Brittany.
He met Gauguin at a stay in Pont-Avon, but Gauguin had no influence on
his work, since Delobbe would always remain true to the purest forms of
academic painting. One never will lack to associate the work of
Delobbe to that of his main inspiration and teacher, William
Bouguereau. It is true that many of his works are similar to the
master of Rochelle. A very big part of Delobbes pictorial
activity was devoted to the portraits where he excelled. These
were works of love which lead to solid friendships in the highest level
of the cultured environments in and around Paris of the time. All
his sitters appreciated his talent and the spirit of his
renderings. Alfred Delobbe died in 1920.
Museums:
Musée de Brême: Baptéme à Venice
Musée de Breslau: Filles de l’Océan
Musée de Rochefort: Le retour des champs
Musée de Bernay: Pyrame et Thisbé
Liverpool Museum, London: Repos des faucheurs
Listed:
E. Benezit, vol. III, page 474
Les Peintres De Concarneau, Henri Belbeoch. Page 116-119 |
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