Henry Valensi

Estate of the artist
Thence by descent from the above

Marie Talon, Henry Valensi, L'heure est venue..., Montigny-le-Bretonneux, 2013, illustrated p. 104

The canvas is not lined. Examination under UV light reveals two small areas of retouching along the left edge (the larger of which is approx. 6 cm long), a few additionnal dots of retouching towards the centre of the right edge, a spot of retouching in the green pigment to the lower right quadrant and a few further dots of retouching along the extreme edges, notably to the left part of the upper edge and towards the centre of the lower edge. There are some frame rubbing, probably from a previous mounting, along the extreme edges with some associated paint loss, in particular to the left edge. There are some scattered fly spots. There are a few fine lines of stable craquellure in places. Colors are fresh and bright and there is a nice and well-preserved impasto. This work is in overall good condition and could benefit from a clean.
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Henry Valensi was born in Algeria in 1883 and knew he was an artist early on. He arrived in Paris with his family in 1898 and enrolled in the school of Fine Arts, following lessons in the studio of Jules Lefèvre and T. Robert Fleury and exhibited over 150 personal paintings at the Salon des Orientalistes in 1905 at the Grand Palais. A new exhibition (the 4^th, there was also the Indépendants in 1907, and Vichy in 1909) of 260 paintings, studies and drawings was then dedicated to him at the Galerie La Boétie in November 1913. Meanwhile, he became associated with the Puteaux group, with Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger and prepared with them the first exhibition of the Golden Section in 1912 (of which he will be the secretary). He also published in 1913, his Theory of Artistic Predominance according to which each historical period has a predominate art which induces a progressive reduction of matter, leading to his belief that the 20^th century would be dominated by Music.

After his experience during the War where he was the Army painter in the Dardanelles expedition in 1915, he befriended the Futurists and was invited by Marinetti to exhibit in Rome in 1920. He integrated movement and speed into his paintings and created a series on sport (Rugby, Tennis, Rowing, Boxing), means of transport (the Automobile, the Locomotive, the Transatlantic, the Hydroplane) and cities of which he gave "expressions".

In 1949, he wrote about this painting in his autobiographical notes: "The year of 1927 saw the birth in Algeria of the Voyage en chemin de Fer (Railroad trip) which marked class struggle [...]. This painting was more an evocation of my social concerns (difference in classes)."  Continuing to paint and write until his death in 1960, he dedicated the last period of his life to the creation of a cine-painting film Symphonie Printanière and the relationship between art and cinema.

Didier Vallens, the painter's nephew, President of the Henry Valensi Association www.musicalisme.fr