'Mon Colonel' by Auguste Chabaud (circa 1914-1918)

'Mon Colonel', pencil and crayon on paper, by noted French artist, Auguste Chabaud (circa 1914-1918). A delightfully simple drawing of a French Army colonel in profile along with closer views of the figure with military covering and without. Interestingly, military members in France use the term, 'mon Colonel' (My Colonel) when addressing an officer of that rank in the Army. However, naval officers are not entitled to such courtesies because Napoleon felt the Navy lost too many battles in his day. One would not address a female colonel in this manner either. The drawing is in good vintage condition and has been newly framed and glazed. The artwork is signed with the stamp of the authenticating authority in the lower right hand side of the work. Upon request a video of the piece may be provided. In the photos of the listing you will find two similar wartime drawings from a book by Serge Fauchereau called 'Auguste Chabaud / Epoque Fauve' on the same type of paper corroborating the date of this work. 

About the Artist: Auguste Chabaud (1882 - 1955). Auguste Chabaud studied at the Lycée and then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Avignon, where his family had settled in 1890. In 1899, Chabaud went to Paris where he attended the Académie Julian. As his parents could no longer support him, he enlisted in the merchant navy and travelled to the W. coast of Africa. In 1902, he was in the military in Tunisia and he brought back many sketches of the inhabitants from his stint there, as well as bordello interiors and bars crowded with military men, sailors and women. Upon his return to France, he stayed again in Paris, Montmartre and Montparnasse.

While in Paris, Chabaud painted typical scenes of the neighbourhoods and boulevards, café-concerts, parties and of the circus and cabaret world. He used vibrant, contrasting colours, which brought him closer to Expressionism. From 1906, Chabaud exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants, and regularly showed at the Salon d'Au­tomne, of which he was a member, and the Salon des Tuile­ries from 1927. Upon his return to Provence around 1914, he painted landscapes of the hillside as well as the people in the countryside in a softened chromatic range with nuanced blacks, tinted whites, and deep blues. After the war, he settled permanently in his hometown, Graveson, marrying the daughter of a neighbouring farmer in 1921 with whom he had seven children. 

Important retrospectives of his work include: 1952 Paris; 1956 Marseille Musée Cantini; 1986 Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts; 1999 Troyes, Musée des Beaux-Arts; and 2003, Paris. (Source: Benezit)

Dimensions with frame:

H 26 cm / 10.2"

W 20 cm / 7.9"

Dimensions without frame:

H 16.5 cm / 6.5"

W 10.5 cm / 4.1"