Estate of Bernard Lamotte (1903-1983) "Joie de Vivre"

Estate of Bernard Lamotte (1903-1983) "Joie de Vivre"

Comprising over (350) lots of art by Bernard Lamotte including, oils, watercolors, gouaches, etchings and sketchbooks together with a few additional works by his circle as well as ephemera signed by President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline ("Jackie") Bouvier Kennedy.

BID ONLINE ONLY  THRU LIVE AUCTIONEERS

SATURDAY, MARCH 7th  at 12:00 pm 

Live in Person Preview

Friday, March 6^th 10:00-4:00

Saturday, March 7^th 9:00am to 12:00pm

At our Gallery

76 Main Street - Amesbury, MA 01913

800-822-1417| Ma Lic#770|mcinnisauctions@yahoo.com

Bernard Lamote (1903-1983):  "Joie de Vivre"

Provenance:  Bernard Lamotte's widow Lilyan White Kent and by direct descent to her great nieces and nephews who have contracted John McInnis Auctioneers to conduct this sale. 

At the age of 17 Lamotte was accepted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and studied under Fernand Corman and Lucien Simon. By 1935 he had moved to New York City where he was based during most of his artistic life. Within one year, he had secured a one-man show at the Wildenstein Gallery. His studio above La Grenouille restaurant became a gathering place for many expatriate French artists, writers and actors. He married Lilyan White Kent, an artist and former wife of a Hollywood producer. He became a naturalized citizen in 1951. The couple divided their time between the city apartment and a home in Southampton. He and his wife traveled widely including Tahiti, the West Indies and India among others and continually returned to Paris for subject matter, capturing fleeting moments of everyday life in the quartiers, parks and cafes. His method was to sketch en plein air and photograph and then complete canvases in his studio.

In an interview with Time Magazine ("Conductor with a Brush," July 12, 1948) Lamotte stated, "My palette is an orchestra. I have all my colors before me and I play with them. With my stick I direct them onto the canvas. The black is the bass and the blue is the piano. I say to the yellow, 'I am coming for you,' and to the pink, 'stay quiet.' Yes, when I paint I am the conductor -- like Toscanini."