This painting “Afternoon Tea”' shows the influence of Auguste Renoir, with whom Abel Faivre had been close friends since about 1893. Oil on canvas mounted to a wood panel. Signed lower left. Circa 1895. Condition is very good. The circular painting is housed in its original frame 19 by 16.5 inches. Provenance: New Jersey estate.
The artists, who were different in age, painted together, often using the same female models - and traveling, such as to Essoyes in 1897 and Amsterdam in 1898.
Noteworthy are the parallels in the composition and in the coloring. The brush stroke also has the same variety of streaking techniques as in Renoir's fin de siècle paintings.
Abel Faivre had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and had arrived in Paris to the Academie Julian only around 1890 to perfect himself with Lefebvre and Constant.
The artist drew a spontaneous perception, which enabled him as a draftsman and caricaturist. Famous in France are his works for Le Rire and Le Figaro.
Artist dictionaries: Thieme-Becker, Bénézit, Saur
Works in Collections: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon; Musée Jean de La Fontaine, Château-Thierry; Musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques, Paris; Musee national Magnin, Dijon.
Faivre died in August, 1945, in Nice, France. A boulevard is named after Faivre in La Croix-Valmer. His work is held in the collections of the National Library of Medicine, the University of Michigan, the Museum of Modern Art. and the Brooklyn Museum.
Museum Collections: Musée d'Orsay, La Femme à l'éventail, Nature morte à l'aiguière et aux fruits
British Museum
Chicago Art Institute