Serpent et antilope, 1908
Pencil on Imperial Japanese paper, signed and located « Boghar » dated 08 lower right
60 x 80 cm
History:
In 1907, Jouve obtained a scholarship from the Algerian government and became the first resident of Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algiers, as well as Léon Cauvy, the other winner. According to the regulation, he will be authorised to stay there for two years, intersecting his stay with returns to France or excursions to the Maghreb, as shown in this drawing made in Boghar, a French stronghold located approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Algiers. This village is a stopover on the road to the oasis of Bou Saada, gateway to the Algerian desert where the painter Maxime Noiré, whom Jouve frequents and who will become his father-in-law (he will marry his daughter Annette in this year 1908), frequently visits. This drawing was one of those chosen to appear as a plate in the Jouve illustrated edition of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, which would be released only in 1919, but whose project had already been entrusted to the artist for some time.
Provenance:
Paul Jouve's collection
Purchase from the artist by the father of the current owner
Bibliography:
Félix Marcilhac, Paul Jouve peintre sculpteur animalier, Les éditions de l’Amateur, 2005, illustrated p. 53.
Exhibition history:
Société des peintres orientalistes français, Grand Palais, Paris, 1909, n°281.
Vème Salon de la Société des Artistes Décorateurs, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris, April 1910, « Python tuant un daim ».