JOSEPH INGUIMBERTY (1896 - 1971)

Presumed collection of Gaston Rueff, owner of several businesses in Indochina, including the Messageries fluviales de Cochinchine and Mimot, and an art collector associated with the painter
Private collection (received as a gift from the above, then passed down within the family)
Private collection, southern France (by descent from the above)

The blue-pencil grid visible in the background attests to the use of this study as an enlargement drawing for the execution of the monumental canvas Rice Field Work, exhibited in Vincennes in 1931 and since held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille. Characteristic of Inguimberty’s Indochinese period, this sheet depicts porters carrying loads suspended from a shoulder pole, or gánh, a recurring motif in his work.

The drawing technique allowed the artist to work with a free and spontaneous hand. A rare surviving study from this period, this large sheet highlights his talent as a draughtsman. The charcoal strokes are bold, while the blue-pencil grid remains sharply defined.

As most of these preparatory sheets have disappeared, it is particularly moving to be able to admire one of the very few surviving drawings that, a century ago, helped bring such masterful compositions to life.

1. For the worker in the foreground : Joseph Inguimberty, Travail dans les rizières, 1930, Collection du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille (ill.1)
2. For the worker in the background: Joseph Inguimberty, Travailleurs des rizières, Collection Museum Pasifika (ill.2)

Bibliographie pour une œuvre en rapport : 

1. Giulia Pentcheff, Joseph Inguimberty 1896-1971, Premier catalogue de l'œuvre peint, Géménos, Groupe Horizon, 2012, n° 064
2. Giulia Pentcheff, Joseph Inguimberty 1896-1971, Premier catalogue de l'œuvre peint, Géménos, Groupe Horizon, 2012, n° 068