Lot no. 37
Auguste-Michel COLLE (1872-1949).
Moulin de la Masse.
Oil on panel.
Signed lower left.
Size: 54 x 34 cm.
This painter was born in Baccarat in 1872 and died in Batz sur Mer in 1949. Orphaned in 1885, he became an apprentice at the Baccarat crystal works as a gilder, then engraver of plates for chemical etching. It was at this time that he developed a taste for drawing and painting, encouraged by Charles Peccatte, a painter from Lorraine who was also from Baccarat. An astute art lover, Eugène Corbin, noticed his work and introduced him to the painters Charles de Meixmoron de Dombasle, Émile Friant and Victor Prouvé (then a professor at the Nancy School of Fine Arts).
In the analysis of the 1904 Salon it is said:
"M. COLLE (born in Baccarat): Baccarat September evening
We must pay attention to Mr. COLLE. His debut is of high value. With a powerful softness reminiscent of certain old tapestries, he shows us Baccarat on a beautiful autumn evening.
A few trees stand out, full of shadow. The church, the old square tower of Les Voués and the tiled roofs are illuminated by a golden or rather orange glow that is like a caress. There is a singular beauty in this very simple, almost naive art. M. COLLE should not hesitate: he is on the right track.
In 1905 he married the sister of Victor Prouvé's wife.
Under contract to Corbin until 1911, he painted nearly 500 canvases or watercolours, mostly inspired by the landscapes of his native region. Subsequently, Colle wanted to get to know other regions, and travelled frequently, finding inspiration in Savoie, Corsica and North Africa. He met Jules Adler, Jean-Paul Laurens and Charles Cottet at the Paris Salons.
At the 1905 Salon in Nancy, the magazine "Le Pays Lorrain" said: "And then there is Mr COLLE, who captures the most exquisite moments of the day, the most troubling aspects of the seasons; his canal at Malzéville is a whole poem of gentle clarity, of infinite calm; we also like his Cathedral at Toul, seen under the gloomy sky of a misty day, it is moving in its calm simplicity".
At the Paris Salon of the "Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts" in 1907, he was again noticed by "La revue lorraine illustrée" which said:
"M. COLLE, who also has the great merit of looking exclusively to Lorraine for his subjects of study, shows us a "View of Nancy" taken in winter, from the bell tower of Saint Epvre. No one appreciates more than I do the originality of Mr COLLE's talent, which owes nothing but to the direct study of nature, and the merits of a technique that has been developed slowly, laboriously and loyally. I realise the considerable difficulty of the subject and how sincere this study of light, seeking to pierce the fog that envelops the city, is. But this highly commendable effort has produced a result that is only half satisfactory. Mr COLLE himself would no doubt acknowledge this.
At the 1909 Salon parisien des Artistes Français, he exhibited an oil on canvas "Au Parc Sainte Marie à Nancy - automne", in 1912 "Les châtaigniers de Jacob (Chambéry-Savoie)" in 1913 "Automne à Champigneulles, après le brouillard du matin" and in 1914 "Lever de soleil en septembre, à la Trinité-sur_Mer".
At the end of the First World War, during a family holiday in Brittany, he was seduced by the light of the salt marshes and landscapes of the Guérande peninsula. This revelation transformed his palette and diversified the techniques he used: some of his canvases were pointillist, others were done with a knife. Every year he spent his summer holidays in the Croisic region.
He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon des Tuileries, in The Hague... all without altering the regular rhythm of his work or his attachment to his family life.
At the 1929 Salon, he exhibited two oil paintings, "Vandoeuvre, soir d'octobre en Lorraine" and "Horodberg, Munster".
In 1932, he exhibited views of Vandoeuvre and flowers taken from life at the Pépinière - in the Pays Lorrain in 1932, he was quoted as saying: "this probing artist has just been awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour, the just crowning of a life entirely devoted to art, painting and decorative art, for he was first a crystal decorator".
In 1933, the daily Est Républicain said: "Michel Colle always enchants us with his contrasts of light and shadow. He shows us "Pointe Pescade Alger" and a marvellous view of his home town "Baccarat"."
In 1940, he settled permanently in the village of Kervalet, near Batz-sur-Mer. The hardships of life during the Second World War prompted him to diversify his themes of inspiration: church interiors, portraits, and so on. It was here that he died in September 1949. Works by this artist are held in the museums of Nantes, Nancy, Strasbourg and Saint Dié, as well as in the Senate in Paris. A major retrospective exhibition was held at the Musée Pierre Noël in Saint Dié in 2009, entitled "From the lights of Lorraine to the colours of Brittany".
In 1906, he contacted Claude Monet, who wrote back:
"L.A.S. "Claude Monet", Giverny [8 April 1906], to A.M. COLLE in Nancy; 2 pages in-8 in purple ink, envelope.
Curious letter in which he rejects the title of Impressionist. [Michel-Auguste COLLE (1872-1949) was a painter from Lorraine who painted many landscapes of his native region].
He received his two letters, "but being very busy" was unable to reply sooner. "What you are asking me is very serious and delicate. I certainly do not wish to refuse you, and would only ask you to let me know in advance when you would like to come, because if I am at work, I will be unable to receive you, so that I can set the day and time myself"...
And he added in a postscript: "You seem to me to be very attached to this title of impressionist, which doesn't mean very much and has led to so much nonsense being said".
The inheritance of his patron Eugène Corbin and that of his brother Louis Corbin took place in May 1986 (6 drawings and 20 paintings by M. Colle), February 1987 and April 2005 (8 paintings by M. Colle) for Eugène and in October 1936 (2 paintings by Colle) for Louis.
Between 5 and 30 October 1971, the Kaplan Gallery in London organised a major exhibition and sale of works by Colle, including 33 oil paintings by the artist.
From 14 June to 16 November 2014, the Musée des Marais Salants in Batz sur Mer organised an exhibition entitled "Lumières en Presqu'ile - Michel COLLE, peintre à Kervalet" (Lights in the Presqu'ile - Michel COLLE, painter in Kervalet), which included a few works from the Lorraine period but above all a large number of oils from the artist's Breton period.
Bibl. : "Wikipedia.org
"Michel COLLE - Des lumières de la Lorraine aux couleurs de la Bretagne" Musée Pierre-Noel Saint Dié des Vosges 4 July - 20 September 2009
"Lumières en Presqu'ile - Michel COLLE, peintre à Kervalet" Musée des Marais Salants de Batz sur Mer 2014
"Dictionnaire biographique illustré de Meurthe et Moselle" Paris 1910
Several articles about the artist can also be found in the "Pays lorrain" magazine:
Volume 80 of July-September 1999 pp. 224
Volume dated 1 January 1936
"La Lorraine vue par Michel-Auguste COLLE" La Gazette de l'Hotel Drouot 20 June 2003
Source: Art Lorrain.
Lorraine art consultant: Mr Robert Leterrier
