BAT1125/1-YSSSS
Description: Les Falaises de Verre (The Glass Cliffs)
Artist Name: Marcel Mouly
Medium: Oil on canvas
Year: 1969
Signature: Hand Signed, lower right, also signed, dated and titled on verso
Image size: 35 x 46 in.
Edition: Unique work by the artist
Condition: Excellent - Hand Signed, lower right, also signed, dated and titled on verso. Very rare + early example of his harbour / marine scenes, long before his worldwide fame and USA gallery exhibits, Mouly exhibited at the Salon in Paris alongside Picasso and others
Marcel Mouly, French, 1918-2008
“I like Picasso for form and drawing and Braque for rhythm, but Matisse remains my spiritual father†Mouly
Born in Paris, Marcel Mouly was interested in drawing as a child but did not intend to make it a career. He was first sent to a drawing class as a form of punishment, but exhibited a natural artistic talent.
At age 13, Mouly left school to work, first as a beach vendor, then as an apprentice to a local dentist and later for a wine merchant delivering heavy baskets of wine. In 1935, while still employed by the wine merchant, Mouly began taking night classes in the arts at French Academies, the Cours Montparnasse 80, where he remained until he served in military duty during the Second World War beginning in 1938.
In 1940, during the occupation of France, Mouly returned to civilian life and, along with fellow artist Édouard Pignon, rented the Boulogne studio of famed modernist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) who introduced Mouly to Cubism. Inspiration consumed Mouly as he walked the halls of the French Art academies, overwhelmed with visions of late night critiques and the history behind the pioneers of a movement. Jacques Lipchitz, the great sculptor, became his mentor and assisted with his development into cubism.
During a trip to Normandy in 1942, Mouly was stopped by German officials and questioned for his ...