Évariste Jonchère (France, 1892-1956)
Moines devant un temple au Laos (Monks in front of a Temple in Laos)
signed and dated 'E.Jonchère 34' (lower centre)
oil on panel
38 x 27 cm. (15 x 100 5/8 in.)

Price Realised EUR 2,400 at Christie's Paris, 24 March 2005

A former pupil of Antonin Mercié, this sculptor won the Prix de Rome in 1925. He taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre, then spent time in Vietnam and travelled the world. He took part in the 1937 Universal Exhibition. From 1938 to 1944, he was director of the École des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine, then returned to France and moved to Africa, where he was director of the École supérieure de Brazzaville in 1952. Some of his works are on display at the Musée des Années Trente, Boulogne-Billancourt. His work, refined and "exotic" (Africa and Indochina were his sources of inspiration), was very much in the spirit of the times.