BLANCHE ORY-ROBIN (1863-1942) SUNFLOWERS AND ROSES,... Lot 3

BLANCHE ORY-ROBIN (1863-1942) SUNFLOWERS AND ROSES, 1915-1919 Oil on canvas Signed lower left Oil on canvas; signed lower left 91,5 X 73 CM - 36 X 28 3/4 IN. We would like to thank Madame Nathanaëlle Tressol for the information she provided in the preparation of this notice. PROVENANCE Private collection, France EXHIBITION Probably : Paris, Galerie Devambez, March 1918 (label on back) Blanche Ory-Robin was a decorative artist known for her embroideries and tapestries, some of which are held at the Musée d'Orsay. Active in the 1910s-1920s, she worked mainly with floral motifs. Roses and sunflowers were her favorite subjects from the start of her career. The oil on canvas Sunflowers and Roses features the artist's two favorite flowers, beautifully arranged in a basket. Ory-Robin's decorative vocation is evident here, as the wallpaper in the background is well represented. This work can be compared with the tapestry cardboard Le Paon (Collection Mobilier National). In his 1921 book on the Manufacture des Gobelins, Gustave Geffroy notes the arrival of women in the workshops and among commissioned artists: "It's a whole group of women artists who reign at the Manufacture", he says, "a fact new enough to be recorded": Mme Marie Alix, Mme Ory Robin, Mme Marie Cazin, and at the Savonnerie Melle Bunoust, Mme Lassudrie. Gustave Geffroy, Les Gobelins: les musées d'Europe, Paris, édition Nilsson, s.d., p. 161.