BUTHAUD, RENÉ (French, 1886-1986)

An important Art Deco Artist, Buthaud trained at the École des Beaux Arts in Bordeaux. He designed simple stoneware forms, made for him by local potters, and used crackle glazes with which to decorate them. He was also influenced by African, tribal art, evident in those pieces where he used lusters or what he called ‘peau de serpent’ (snakeskin). Many of his best-known pieces are painted with supine female nudes. After 1940, he concentrated on images of women, in the form of stylized odalisques, idealized female figures, and mythological goddesses. Under contract to Galerie Rouard in Paris, he exhibited there from 1928 to 1965. During this period, he often signed his works "J. Doris".