Roger de la Broye (1883-1942), self portrait, 1911

roger de la broye · 1911-01-01T00:00:00Z

Self portrait of Roger de la Broye, a french artist active in the early 20th century, as it appeared as a photo i n the April 15, 1913 issue of La Nouvelle Revue magazine. Roger De La Broye (1883 - 1942) was a French artist who created drawings, paintings and engravings.  According to French military records in the French national archives, he was born Roger Gaston Edme Durfort De La Broye on July 7, 1883 in Seine-Maritime, France.  His birth place, listed as Elbeuf in the 1913 Salon catalog of the Societe Des Artists Independents, is an industrial commune and river port located in the Seine-Maritime department of the Normandy region in northern France.  He died in September, 1942 and is buried in the Cimetiere du Montparnasse in Paris, France.  Durfort de la Broye is a rare compound French surname connected to the historical House of Durfort, an old and distinguished French noble family dating back to the 11th century.   Roger de la Broye is known to contemporary dealers of artisanal art for his hand-colored etchings of scenery around France, mostly consisting of limited-edition engraving prints of up to 350 initially printed examples, hand colored and signed in pencil by the artist. He would sign his hand-colored etchings in pencil as "RD de la Broye."  Some art dealers erroneously assumed that RD was shorthand for "Richard," and would then erroneously list his name as "Richard De La Broye."  However, based on the military record of his longer, aristocratic name, RD de la Broye indicates that de Broye's professional art signature was a partial abbreviation of "Roger Durfort De La Broye."  His name is also listed as R.D. de la Broye in some art catalogs, indicated that RD are abbreviations of two separate names, and not shorthand for the one name of Richard. Roger de la Broye was recruited into the French army in 1903, with matriculation number 2270, but by 1913 was exhibiting in the salon of the Societe Des Artists Independents, indicating a major career change from militarist to artist.  He also exhibited in the 1921, 1922, 1924 and 1925 salons of the Societe Des Artists Independents.  His name was not mentioned in the catalogs of the Salon D'Automne.  He seems to have been more of a fringe artist, displaying in the more fringe salon of the Societe Des Artists Independents, instead of the more major salons of D'automne and Beaux-Arts.  However, Le Nouvelle Revue magazine documented in its May-June 1921 issue that Roger de la Broye exhibited a pastel at the 1921 Salon de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts.  Roger de la Broye would also exhibit works at the Galerie Druet, such as on May 19 and June 8, 1922, according to the January-June 1921 magazine issue of Art et Decoration, Revue Mensuelle D'art Moderne.  He also exhibited pastels at the Salon Tunisien of 1922, according to the 1922 catalog of this Salon.  At this time, de la Broye had a studio at 26 Rue Galvani in Paris, France. Roger De La Broye was the subject of a brief biographical sketch in the April 15, 1913 issue of La Nouvelle Revue magazine.  This issue contains a photo of an oil painting self-portrait that Roger de la Broye made of himself, signed "R.D. de la Broye 11," indicating that he painted it in 1911.  This portrait shows a young man of approximately 28 years of age, based on the youthful appearance of de  la Broye's image, which suggests a birth date around the early 1880s.  This self portrait also shows de le Broye holding a full size bass cello with a sheet music stand with sheet music on it.  This self-portrait suggests that de la Broye was both a cellist and a graphical artist, or a kind of multi-disciplinary artist.  The biographical sketch in the magazine reads (in French): "La liste des artistes contemporains qui se sont voués spécialement au dessin est courte. Voici un jeune que l'on pourra y inscrire. Ce n'est qu'au sortir du régiment qu'il put suivre sa vocation. Elève d'abord de J. Lefebvre et de T. Robert-Fleury, il s'évada au bout d'un an de cet enseignement et, au cours d'un voyage en Allemagne, enthousiasme par les œuvres des artistes contemporains de ce pays, il s'y fixa. Trois ans passés à Munich et à Vienne lui permirent de se former à l'Ecole des Erler, des Stuck, des Thœny et de s'imprégner de l'art des grands dessinateurs du passé, des Dürer et des Holbein. Il nous revint avec cette technique qu'il appliqua à rendre tantôt de délicats visages de Parisiennes, tantôt de saisissantes études de types comme ce Veilleur que nous reproduisons ici. Enfin les quelques peintures qu'il a produites nous montrent qu'il se joint au mouvement décoratif que l'on voit se préciser parmi les jeunes." Translated to English, the sketch reads: "The list of contemporary artists who have devoted themselves specifically to drawing is short. Here is a young man [de la Broye] who can be included on it. It was only after leaving the regiment [i.e. the French Military] that he was able to pursue his vocation. Initially a student of J. Lefebvre and T. Robert-Fleury, he escaped after a year of this instruction and, during a trip to Germany, enthralled by the works of contemporary artists there, he settled there. Three years spent in Munich and Vienna allowed him to train in the school of Erler, Stuck, and Thœny, and to absorb the art of the great draftsmen of the past, the Dürers and Holbeins. He returned to us with this technique, which he applied to rendering sometimes delicate faces of Parisian women, sometimes striking studies of types like this Watchman that we reproduce here. Finally, the few paintings he produced show us that he joined the decorative movement that was emerging among young people." Roger de la Broye also taught students, with a certain Madeleine Boulland exhibiting at the Grand Palais de Champs-Elysees, and being referred to as one of his students in the catalog of the salon of the La Société des Artistes Français, in 1928 at the 141st exposition officiele des beaux-arts. Roger de la Broye died at age 59 in September, 1942 and is buried in the Cimetiere du Montparnasse in Paris, France.