13 Sep 2017

Gaston-Louis Roux and Avant-Gardism

Tobacco Museum

Reviewed by Vera Wilde

Gaston-Louis Roux's commanding impatience earned him a rightful place among leading 20th-century avant-garde painters including Picasso and Max Ernst. Veering from Cubism (Composition, 1930) to Expressionism (Le duel, 1936), Roux's best work wows with vivid colors and motion. He also bridges these modernisms with measured color and blocky composition in Les tulipes (1938).

Later, he commands primary colors and simplified shapes (Jeune fillet au bouquet, 1947). He dips into Surrealism (La jeune fille au diabolo, 1930) and then Art Brut (Mes enfants a l'aube, 1947). His strongest lines invoke Picasso (Les jeux du cirque, 1947). Stylistically, this looks like a group show.

Like many pioneers who push boundaries - theirs and others' - Roux's hunger undermined the career it had advanced. The same man who masterfully combined the best of various modernisms subsequently alienated his dealer by returning to realism. Did his own vision crystallize there at last? The answer isn't on display.