Lot 118: w - GEORGES MATHEY FRENCH, 1887-1915

JOUR DE FÊTE (THE FEAST DAY)

measurements note
79.5cm., 31¼in.

signed: G. Mathey and inscribed on the front of the base: JOUR DE FETE

white marble, on red marble base

NOTE

The young Georges Mathey began his studies in Lyons at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, continuing his education at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts where he won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1909. He won a bronze medal at the Salon of 1811. The loss of his mother that same year had a deep impact on Mathey's work as he became fascinated with the tender and evocative depiction of mother and child, as witnessed by the present model.

His career, which had begun so promisingly, was tragically cut short. Mathey was conscripted at the outbreak of the First World War and died in the trenches in 1915. His last work was a Calvary relief carved into the wooden butt of his rifle. This moving image, entitled La Guerre is preserved in the Musée des Ursulines, in Mâcon.

RELATED LITERATURE
Bénézit, vol.9, p. 348