Figure, 1914

Josselin Bodley  

Figure is a drawing in China ink on paper, dated 1914 and signed by the British artist Josselin Bodley. The state of preservation is excellent. On the lower right, it is signed and dated in China ink “Josselin Bodley / 14”. The drawing presents a high pictorial quality in the strokes and colors. A perfect work for a subject that is hard to comprehend, enigmatic, and, for this reason, very fascinating.

Josselin Bodley is a British artist, born from an important family: the father was the historical John Eduard Courtenay (JEC) Bodley, and her mother Ava Anderson, Viscountess Waverley. After travelling much and studying in Eaton, the artist arrived in Paris to become a painter and started his artistic career, though after taking part in the war. His artistic style was influenced by the experiences of these years. His first works, indeed, show French architectures, landscapes and war images.

Stylistically, his work is a combination of tradition, modernity, and realism. In the period between the two wars, he was considered one of the most promising artists of his generation, a painter between French avantgarde and English artistic autonomy. His style kept distant from the trends of important emerging artistic groups in Great Britain of the 1930s. His works were exhibited at the four most important art galleries of the West: the Bernheim Jeune in Paris, the Leicester Galleries in London, the Marie Harriman Gallery in New York, and the Alfred Flechtheim in Berlin.