ROGER BISSIÈRE (French, 1888-1964)

Nu Couché sur Linge Blanc, 1925 Oil on board 35 x 64 cm Signed lower right In 1925 Bissière was preparing for his one-man show at the Galerie Druet, which included the present work. That year he painted a series of nudes on a white sheet with a straw hat at their feet. By then his researches had pushed him to Neo-Classicism, following in the footsteps of Picasso and Braque. Bissière’s nervous brushstroke makes for a vibrant effect, making the figure appear to move on the canvas. The construction of the nude can be compared to some of the similarly exaggerated features in Braque’s nude studies. The obviously reworked head displays the classical idealised features present in the figures of Souverbie Provenance: Galerie Druet, Paris, stock no.11327; - Collection Dr.Wehrli, China; - Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, sale 9 June 1966, cat.80; - Burkard, Lucerne, 23 Nov. 1996, no.58. Literature: I. BISSIÈRE and V. DUVAL. Bissière: Catalogue Raisonné 1886-1939. S.l., s.d, no.434, ill. p.154.