'Still Life - White Jug with Flowers' by Juliette Roche-Gleizes (circa 1930s)

'Still Life - White Jug with Flowers', oil on board, attributed to Juliette Roche-Gleizes (circa 1930s). A vibrant, colourful display of ranunculus flowers which often look almost too perfect to be real. They have exquisite, rose-like blossoms displaying layer upon layer of silky petals in a rainbow of colours. Here they contrast with the simplicity of a white jug with handle. The style is light-hearted, naive, yet beautiful in its simplicity. In good vintage condition commensurate with age. There are slight blemishes evident which do not affect one's overall impression of the artwork. Newly framed with linen slip. Unsigned. Upon request, a video clip of the painting can be provided.

Provenance: Although this work is unsigned, this gallery acquired three Roche paintings in the South of France. One has her usual identifying mark in the form of her initials, 'J.R.'. Another, an annotation on the original frame backing:  'Juliette Roche epouse Gleizes' and the third, a very similar floral painting with no initials or other markings (this painting). An in-house Certificate of Authenticity will be provided upon request. 

About the Artist: Juliette Roche (1884–1980), French Painter and Writer. Juliette Roche frequented the Parisian art scene from a young age, thanks to her godmother, the countess Greffulhe, and her father’s godson, Jean Cocteau. Supported by her father, Jules Roche, an important political figure, she studied painting at the Ranson Academy. Adopted early on by the nabis, she discovered Cubism in 1912, and split away from Félix Ballotton and Maurice Denis. In 1913, a groundbreaking year, she showed her work at the Salon des indépendants, and began writing poetry, inserting clichéd phrases, such as advertising slogans, into the poetic fabric. She also began experimenting with innovative typography, which would become even more iconoclastic in 1917, with her pieces Brevoort and Pôle tempéré. Her first solo show took place at the galerie Bernheim-Jeune in 1914. When war was declared, Roche and her future husband, the cubist Albert Gleizes, confirmed pacifists, traveled to New York, where Duchamp introduced them into the circle of collectors that included Louis and Walter Arensberg. Starting in 1915, she took part in Dada activities, along with Duchamp and Picabia.

After a long trip to Barcelona she and her husband, who were showing at the Galerie Dalmau, returned to New York. There, Roche collaborated with Duchamp on the preparation of the first exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists (1917), where she showed some Dada-inspired works. Experimenting with the figurative, she created her piece Nature morte au hachoir [Still life with cleaver], in which the blade reflects a disjointed image of war. In 1927, she and her husband founded, the Moly-Sabata artists’ residence in Sablons, which offered studios and workshops. Thus Roches became a fervent supporter of arts education for the working class. Throughout the rest of her life she occasionally participated in collective exhibitions. In 1962 a major retrospective at the galerie Miroir in Paris was devoted to her, but it is since the 1990s especially her role in the Dada movement has been reconsidered. (Catherine Gonnard translated from French by Emily Freeman.)