Alfred LOMBARD (1884-1973) Study of decorative... Lot 23

Alfred LOMBARD (1884-1973) Study of decorative motifs for the chapel of the liner Normandie. Oil on canvas Stamp of the studio on the back 81 x 54 cm In 1934, through the intermediary of the architect Pierre Patout, Alfred Lombard was commissioned by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique to paint the chapel of the Normandie liner, which was the largest and fastest liner of its time, but also the most luxurious. The Holy Face imagined by Lombard on this occasion for the niche of the chapel's altar was the subject of a lively controversy between the artist and his patron. Indeed, although the sketches of the project had previously been accepted, three weeks before the delivery of the decoration, the monumental head of Christ was refused... True to his intransigent character, Lombard sent the Company packing and it was only thanks to the insistence of Patout and the other people involved in the project that he agreed to do the work. that he agreed to rework the project. The Holy Face was replaced in the apse by the monogram of Christ, and Lombard took advantage of the week-long cruise reserved for artists before delivery of the building site to put the finishing touches to his decoration. This was Alfred Lombard's second participation in a project of this scale: a few years earlier, he had already created the decorative paintings for the chapel of the liner Atlantique, using a completely different inspiration. Alongside the great names of Art Deco such as Dunand, Lalique, Ruhlmann and Subes, Alfred Lombard was twice associated with the design of these mythical floating palaces that crowned the excellence of French decorative arts in the 1930s. On the subject of Alfred Lombard's decoration of the Normandie's chapel, see "La décoration de la chapelle du paquebot Normandie" in Alfred Lombard, Giulia Pentcheff, Galerie Alexis Pentcheff, 2019, p.131 to 134.