5/11/24 – Acquisition – Strasbourg, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art – This is a work that seduces at first glance, with its triptych composition seemingly embedded in this superb setting and which seems to embody “the blue line of the Vosges”. In the center we recognize Mont Sainte-Odile dominating the Alsace plain, but it is the forest which covers most of the triptych, in large masses as well as through the often frail silhouettes of trees which seem to spring from the frame at first. plan. Bathed in a soft light more morning than evening, the work is enhanced with golden touches which bring a precious side to this ultimately very simple composition. Finally, it is in gold letters that its author signed at the bottom right: H. Rapin.
- 1. Henri Rapin (1873-1939)
Mont Saint-Odile1925
Pastel, watercolor and gouache on paper – 80 x 170 cm
Strasbourg, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMCS)
Photo : Malibran Gallery
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See the image on his page
Reappearing on the cover of the catalog of a Breton sale in the summer of 2023, the work was acquired there by the gallery owner Jean Rideau, former auctioneer at Christie's in Paris who launched his independent activity two years ago and was able to recognize in this triptych (ill. 1) preparatory work for a decor created for the famous International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts of 1925, as its online notice explains. The name of Rapin is naturally inseparable from the legendary event whose centenary was celebrated in advance with an exhibition at the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine in 2013-2014 (see the article) but firstly evokes the important activity decorator and designer of the one who trained as a painter.
A jack of all trades genius, this protean artist worked in the workshop of Jean-Léon Gérôme before leaving his name to several forms of creations in Sèvres, where he was artistic advisor between 1920 and 1934. Ranging from vases to
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