Trude Von Molo (1906-1989)
An expressionist between Paris and Berry
Good morning all.
I wish on this blog to let you know and (I hope) appreciate the paintings of Trude Von Molo. Before detailing his life as an artist, I would like to provide you with some details on the motivations which allowed me to found this site. My goal is to make you discover the life and the vision of the artist through his paintings. My descriptions of works go in this direction. I do not pretend to know and to transcribe the historical truth and the exact allegorical meaning of each painting. Thanks to some members of my family who have worked with the artist and thanks to my training in art history in Lille and Paris, I believe I am able to offer you a coherent historical analysis allowing all readers to enter in the wonderful universe of the artist. I would like to take a break by looking forward to participating in the discovery and rediscovery of female artists who are now increasingly joining art historians. It is important to break stereotypes in order to wake up the talent of female artists.
I do not wish to detail his artistic production from the point of view of the art market. It is true that the artist is starting to be more and more present on the market. Moreover, it is not the Parisian auctioneers (and recently the Roman auctioneers) who will say the opposite. The appearance of these fabrics on the market allowed me to start making a catalog raisonné. To my knowledge, 125 canvases by the artist are listed today (compared to only 60 when this site was created in 2019). For me, the figure of the art historian takes precedence over that of the art dealer. I would like to draw your attention to one of the most important aspects of art history, which is above all that of conservation. Unfortunately the recently discovered paintings by Von Molo have for the most part been poorly preserved. The paint she used is extremely fragile. The crumbling and cracking of the pictorial layer or the tearing of the canvas is very frequent.
To finish on the functioning of this site, know that this is only the beginning of a long work. I will try throughout the year to enrich this space by the description and explanation of new paintings.
Trude Von Molo, of Austrian nationality, was the daughter of the famous writer Walter Von Molo. She began her career as a filmmaker in the 1920s. She achieved many successes in German cinema with in particular the role of Mona Lisa in "the theft of the Mona Lisa" in 1931. She pretended to have a professional meeting in Paris and met her future husband Robert de Ribon. In 1936, Robert de Ribon left for Barcelona where Trude followed him. The same year Trude will give birth to their daughter Lolita in Madrid. After this happy event , Trude lands a contract in Rome. But quickly the atmosphere darkens with the Mussolini-Hitler agreement. The family decides to return to Barcelona to take the last boat to Buenos Aires where resides the mother of Robert de Ribon. After the liberation of Paris, the family decided in 1947 to return to France. They will settle in the capital and will spend some weekends in the Château de Corbilly (in the Indre ) belonging to Robert de Ribon's father. This initially "secondary" residence was main since 1953. After the war, Trude stopped the cinema and began to paint. It is also in the Arthonnaise commune, in the castle of Corbilly, that she decides to devote herself to painting. The couple will not forget Paris, however, since they will manage an apartment there (avenue de Iéna, then avenue de Lamballe). 1969 is a terrible year for Trude who loses her husband. This event deeply upset the artist and this even in his artistic production. Indeed she decides to put an end to the painting exhibitions and seems to change her signature by no longer signing "MOLO" but "Von Molo". We can also observe that his paintings, initially large ambitious compositions, are after this date replaced by wiser still lifes. Finally leaving Corbilly in the 70s, she spent the last years of her life in her apartment rue de Chateaubriand in Paris (8th district) where she passed away in 1989.
It only remains for me to wish you a good visit.
List of Trude Von Molo Painting Exhibitions
-1955 Alfil gallery in Madrid
-1956 Wolfgang Gurlitt gallery in Munich
-1957 gallery Marseille 7 quai voltaire in Paris
-1958 galeria Valenti in Barcelona
-1961 Gerard Mourgue gallery in Paris
-1963 Kellermann gallery in Dusseldorf
-1965 Katia Granoff gallery in Paris
-1967 Wolfgang Gurlitt gallery in Munich
-1967 B.Richter gallery in Vienna
-1988 Credit Agricole de Trouville
Mosaic of tables (click on the image to access the link)
" The house of the Corbilly game warden " said the Prince
60x81 cm 1953 private collection (Blanchet canvas)
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
Trude Von Molo daughter-in-law of the owner of the Corbilly estate located in the town of Arthon (Indre), seems to paint her first paintings around 1953. The estate she has in front of her is her inspiration. The landscape, the vegetation and the various elements of masonry inspire the painter who never ceases to transcribe them on her paintings.
This oil dating from 1953 is signed in the lower right corner "Molo". This painting is part of the series of the representation of the castle park. In this case in a luminous atmosphere bathed by the sun, a small house appears discreetly at the end of the meadow, bordered by imposing trees. The artist structures his canvas with a composition that plays on the effects of horizontal lines (the branches of trees) and verticals (the trunks of trees). This hilly landscape recalls the many buttons present in the town and accentuates the presence of a multitude of curves in the picture. In a colourism inherited from the impressionists, green and yellow are dominant in the treatment of the landscape. Shadows in purple are also inherited from these. As for the touch, it is rather smooth apart from the more "thick" treatment of the first trees at the edge of the meadow. Note the unrealistic colourism of the tree trunks in opaline green.
The artist represented here the guard house of the castle of Corbilly located to the west of the castle (about 200 meters). Even if the artist seems to use an impressionist style, it seems more appropriate to relate her to the expressionists. Indeed the artist was not used to painting his canvases outdoors but preferred to paint in his studio located in the castle which overlooks the west facade of the estate. Von Molo used to transcribe on his canvas elements by memory, which sometimes gives rise to creations that stand out from reality.
Regarding the canvas itself, it was purchased at 38 rue Bonaparte in Paris in the "Blanchet" store. The stamp on the back of the canvas was placed on the canvas dating from 1906 to 1960. (18 cases). Finally, the frame of the painting indicates that the work took part in an exhibition on Boulevard le Maine (Montparnasse museum) under the initiative of photographer Marc Vaux. (Paris).
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
"Memory of the Corbilly vegetable garden"
80x54 cm 1955 collection particulière (toile Blanchet)
Now let's take the opposite direction by going east of the castle to go to the artist's vegetable garden.
In a nature in full bloom, a woman, standing, picks up an iris flower with her left hand while holding a wicker basket with her right hand. Barefoot and head down in the direction of the flowerbed, she seems absorbed by the action of picking. This graceful scene is reflected in a certain application in the realization of her gesture, visible by the concentrated expression of her face. This theme of absorption recently developed by Michael Fried ( Cf. The place of the spectator ) is visible in several paintings by the female artist. A wrought iron chair, painted white, is present to the right of the woman. In the background the view is concealed by the row of apple trees ending in long shoots seeming to touch the blue sky. Behind the fruit trees a garden shed seems to emerge from the foliage.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
The woman in the foreground, dressed in blue, is actually the artist. It is a self-portrait and more particularly a souvenir of Von Molo in the garden of Corbilly. The action of flower picking can be associated with the Carpe diem "Pick the present day without worrying about the next day" (Horace). In this gesture is expressed a kind of melancholy, a certain nostalgia presented by this memory. The garden represented in this painting is close to reality. Indeed the apple trees, the paths, the chair and the shed did exist in the domain of the castle. The shed on the right of the canvas evokes the guests that Von Molo received in his castle. Between 1950 and 1969 (date of the death of her husband Robert de Ribon), Von Molo organized receptions. Among the guests are Pierre Brasseur, Catherine Sauvage, Alice Sapritch and the Nivernais painter Jacques Thevenet. It is attested that a great complicity existed between Von Molo and Thevenet. The two painters notably exhibited both at the Marseille gallery in Paris in 1957 as well as at the Katia Granoff gallery in Paris in 1965. During his stay in the Château Arthonnais, Jacques Thevenet had his studio in the small shed in the garden where a glass roof adjoining the building let in the light. Thevenet also represented the castle in one of his paintings "the Castle of Corbilly" (Cf Drouot sale of Thursday June 26, 2014).
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
Regarding the invoice of the canvas, it is smooth. The rather green and beige color on the whole, is contrasted by the addition of orange touches present by the flowers and the roof of the shed. The canvas is not signed but the stamp of the house Blanchet is affixed on the back (Blanchet, 38 rue Bonaparte in Paris). This stamp (18 cases listed by the Blanchet house) shows that the canvas was made between 1907 and 1960.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
"Still life with bottles and onions"
60x81 cm 1955 private collection (Blanchet canvas)
Still life occupies a preponderant place in the artistic production of the artist.
This canvas produced in 1955 is the beginning of a large series of still lifes in which glasses, vases, fruits or vegetables are represented. In this series expressionism reaches its climax. Glassware and foodstuffs are most often placed in a timeless, unstable setting or in a neutral or even vaporous background. The objects are placed in an improbable or disproportionate way.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
On an improvised table, seven bottles and an empty vase are arranged in a circle on its surface. In the center of this "mountain of glass" is a wicker basket filled with onions that appear to spin on themselves. The exaggeratedly large drawn bottles are spaced irregularly. Among the latter are recognizable a bottle of red wine and a bottle of whiskey. This alcohol was greatly appreciated by the artist. The leftmost bottle in the painting bears the inscription "DOMER" (a mark?). Finally the whole is inscribed on a frieze background where alternate horizontal strips of mauve, red and spring green. In the painting the dominant tone is made up of warm colors (red, yellow, orange).
Everything is round in this painting! This shape is found in the neck of the bottles, the neck of the empty vase, the cylindrical shape of the containers or the shape of the yellow basket where the onions it contains are located. Only the banner background or the body of the bottles provide linear verticality. This canvas, which seems static at first glance, is actually much more animated. Indeed in the foreground the onion basket seems to be in motion. In fact, the onion stalks swinging in a whirling motion as well as the onion fallen backwards to the right, attest to the violent spiral that the basket undergoes.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
The significance of this still life is certainly the vicious cycle of alcohol addiction and its effects. The back of the canvas at Von Molo is extremely interesting since she writes the title of "infernal round" on it. The circle formed by the bottles, the violence of the different shades of red, or the onion that has fallen from the basket reminds the effect of alcohol.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
Finally, it should be noted that the canvas is signed "Molo" in the lower right corner. On the back of the canvas, the stamp of the Maison Blanchet 38 rue Bonaparte in Paris is present. This type of stamp has only been listed once by Maison Blanchet on a canvas dating from 1922.
"Horse chestnut flowers"
52x78 cm private collection (Blanchet canvas)
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In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
Who does not know "the branches of a chestnut tree in bloom" by Vincent Van Gogh kept at the Emil G. Bührle Foundation and Collection in Zurich (Switzerland). This rare physiognomic representation of the chestnut flowers is found mainly in these two artists.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
This oil on canvas discreetly signed "Molo" in the lower right corner, represents branches of chestnut tree decorated with yellowish flowers. This floral bouquet, shaped by thick layers of paint, forms an impasto. The latter stands out from the yellow background of the central part, then from the navy blue background located towards the outside of the canvas. The subject exclusively echoes nature. This composition rejects all traces of human presence. In this case the artist chooses not to treat the subject of chestnut as a whole but to zoom in on some branches to extract the beauty. To understand the construction of this set, you have to dissect the canvas in two: the plant motif and the background made up of flat colors.
Let's start with the branches and the chestnut flowers. This set made up of branches with three leaves as well as six flower clusters seems to come out of the painting to enter the viewer. This effect of exteriorization of the plant mass is possible thanks to the technique of impasto paint which forms a relief effect. The cluster of flowers is made up of multiple yellow petals reinforced with touches of orange giving depth to the pattern. The branches are treated in different colors. In fact, in the middle part of the canvas, the branches form a large oblique crossing the canvas horizontally. These branches contrast with the yellow-blue of the rest of the canvas since the artist has treated them in red-brown. This horizontality gives stability to the composition. Conversely, the vertical branches are treated in green-wormwood which provides a delicious asymmetry which ends with the three chestnut leaves in the lower central part of the painting. Finally, if we look at the whole bouquet, we can discern two obliques, one formed by the flowers located in the lower right corner and ending with the three leaves. The other is the group of flowers in the upper left corner which ends with another group of flowers in the lower right. These two obliques form a chiasmus which fills in a harmonious and balanced way the empty space of the painting.
Now let's take a look at the background of the composition. The latter was formed by a layer of paint much thinner than that of the chestnut flowers. This layer is not uniformly smooth since the touch of paint is visible: in fact, the background has been treated by flat areas of color retransmitted on the canvas only with horizontal touches (from left to right and vice versa). These areas are yellow in the center, green in the middle part and then navy blue on the outside. The green was made thanks to the simple mixture of yellow and blue already present on the surface of the canvas. But what is the effect of this colored background on the viewer's retina? To answer this question, we must refer to Kandinsky's book Du spirituel dans l'art . In his theory, Kandinsky explains that the color yellow has eccentric motion, while blue has concentric motion. Green, obtained thanks to yellow and blue, is therefore a hieratic color. If we take this theory applied to our painting, then the viewer's eyes will first focus on the blue edge of the painting and then quickly go to focus on the yellow rectangle in the center of the canvas. Then our gaze will, as we go, finish its sewing on the greenish areas. I think Von Molo knew this theory and used it perfectly to focus the viewer's gaze towards the center of the painting, in order to magnify the chestnut blossoms.
To finish on the background of the painting, we notice that the flat areas of color produced by the artist are found on many of his still lifes. The latter gives a timeless and vaporous rendering which seems to affirm the painter's belonging to the expressionist current.
Why did you choose this rare chestnut motif? Chestnut trees, a peculiarity of the Berry region , were present in large numbers in the domain of the Château de Corbilly. We can't say for sure, but it's also likely that the artist just liked it very much. An anecdote can confirm the adoration of this tree by the artist since Lolita, her daughter, would have received after her birth a chestnut tree as a birth tree (the tree is still visible today near the north facade of the castle).
To conclude, This canvas is a remarkable success both in the treatment of the plant motif and in the treatment and ingenuity of the expressionist background, which will be found throughout his artistic production.
"Still life with rose"
38x61 private collection (after 1969)
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The vaporous colored background is the link that unites the previous canvas to this painting. This totally expressionist background takes a significant place in the artist's artistic production. Should we see in it the sign of a moment of reverie, of unconsciousness, or even a sign of the beyond?
The subject at first glance in this painting is a still life. A new signature "Von Molo" is present in the lower right corner of the canvas. It is interesting to observe that this signature differs from the other inscriptions that the artist had affixed on the paintings presented previously. Is this a painting from the end of the artist's life? For the moment, none of his paintings bearing the signature "Von Molo" has been precisely dated (research is still to be done).
In this case, in a foggy and eventful background, a plant set composed of sprigs of wheat, poppies, poppies or even a sunflower, stands in an unrealistic setting. In the foreground, eccentric on the right, a rose placed in a glass draws a curve under the weight of its petals closed on itself. This painting was done with a knife. We can observe this technique on the sunflower, the rose in the glass or on the poppy capsules, where the motif has been "sculpted" directly into the still wet layer of paint, forming fine stylized beige lines adorning the motif.
If we left it there, this painting would be a simple impressionist representation of a plant bouquet placed in the center of a vaporous background. However, this eventful background located at the back of the plant ensemble, seems to express a feeling of strangeness. The blue-purple color of the upper left part could support this feeling of concern. In addition, the cut sunflower as well as the closed rose call out to the viewer by their singular representation.
To understand this work, we must discover the symbolism of the flowers present in the composition. The universe of flowers is a fascinating world full of symbolism. In this still life, the hidden meaning is that of the cycle of life. The table is read from left to right. Death is represented in the leftmost black part of the bouquet. Wheat placed in a tuft is drawn inert, dried, and seems "lifeless". The sunflower, stemless and scorched by the time it has spent contemplating the sun, symbolizes the passing of time and the collapsing of life. The entire left part of the painting up to the sunflower therefore represents death.
But suddenly moving to the right, young shoots of orange poppies are present after germination, their seeds probably sown by the orange flowers overhanging the bouquet. Here the birth is symbolized.
Then, moving further to the right, a "prime of life" poppy blooms. It is wide open and takes advantage of the light to develop. Finally on the right, the poppy ends its life by metamorphosing into a capsule. The first poppy capsule is in motion and seems to be heading towards the death that awaits it. Next to it, the second poppy capsule is in a more hieratic position, death having apparently extinguished all that was left of the poppy. The flower is lifeless but the capsule, in a final gesture, is about to open to release seeds which, in turn, will give birth to new shoots.
To summarize this set, let us remember that the artist, through flowers, symbolized the different stages of the cycle of life. Birth, growth, blossoming, collapse and undoubtedly a coming rebirth.
The curved rose in the glass remains quite enigmatic, it would perhaps be the personification of the artist at the end of his life. A hypothesis can be submitted: if the rose is the personification of the artist, then the bouquet extending in the vaporous background would symbolize his own confrontation with the cycle of life, encouraging Man to meditate on his personal future. 'waits.
This allegory of the cycle of life as well as this reflection on the fate to come of man and nature are present in other paintings by the artist, in particular "the women" (Cf. Drouot sale of Tuesday February 6 2018, catalog no.162). This type of still life "with a vaporous background" is extremely used by the painter, but is not however the only background present in her still lifes, as evidenced by the next painting that we are going to discover.
"Still life with figs"
52x78 cm private collection (Blanchet canvas)
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In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
This still life of a more elaborate construction than the previous one, differs from the latter by the absence of vaporous backgrounds. The expressionist background is replaced here by a set of houses which blocks the horizon, leaving only a glimpse of a small piece of blue sky.
The canvas is signed "Molo" in the lower right corner. It is interesting to observe the back of the canvas, where is inscribed on the reverse of the painting "Von Molo de Ribon, Paris XVIe, 8 avenue de Lamballe". It is not excluded that some of the artist's canvases were painted in his apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, as shown for example in the painting “in the park” (Cf. vente Drouot January 31, 2018, catalog no.144 ). Part of his work also represents the Parisian urban world. It was in Paris that the painter exhibited most often in the 1950s.
It happened that Von Molo, with the help of the keeper of the castle at the time, brought several of his paintings by car from his castle in Arthon, with the aim of going to exhibit them in the capital.
In the foreground of this composition, on a huge table taking up most of the space of the canvas, a fruit basket is set up. In this wicker basket are five varieties of apples all in different colors, as well as two bunches of grapes and a few figs forming a pyramid drawing the top of this basket. A little further to the left, in an unstable position, a group of three figs is placed on the edge of the table. Behind this group, six branches of cattail with large inflamed leaves, are spread out in the center of the table from which emerge virulent yellow-orange flames illuminating three large green apples located at the other end of the table. Behind the fruit basket, a blue slant is drawn on the plank. The latter is the same color as the sky visible between the buildings lining the backdrop. This bluish oblique is certainly the reflection of the moon. This painting is therefore undoubtedly a night scene.
The various fruits on this table are lit by the fire emanating from the cattles being consumed. We can find luminous halos around the green apples closest to the fire. These latter are moreover carried out in a rather singular way. In fact, the fruits of Venus, located in an improbable position, seem about to fall. Their greatly exaggerated size makes the painting slide into an unrealistic universe where the linear perspective of our real world is absent.
This still life at the bottom composed of a set of buildings, is not a new construction on the part of the artist. Another painting by Von Molo “Still life with vases and bottles” (Cf. Drouot sale of January 31, 2018, catalog no. 133) exhibits very similar motifs. The paintings both present a nocturnal still life where the background is obstructed by buildings made in a rather summary way. This still life is a beautiful eclectic achievement. The painter in this painting is halfway between a night scene, an urban setting and still life. She offers the viewer an innovative composition showing all her talent as a colorist. This attractive painting would almost make you forget that the artist is self-taught in this field.
Finally, the back of the canvas is stamped with the Blanchet stamp: "38 rue Bonaparte Paris" which is found on canvases dated from 1907 to 1960.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
"Venice at night, family album"
54x81 (1956) private collection
Upcoming paintings (coming soon)
"Three fish in the moonlight"
33x55 private collection
"Moonlight"
33x55 private collection
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"Fish in the moonlight"
46x55 private collection
Still life with daisies says "hope"
46x65 private collection
Still life at sunrise
38x61 private collection
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Still life with pears says "the end of autumn
38x61 private collection
Sunset says "marriage with the tao"
50x60 private collection
Moonlight with rose
61x38 private collection
"Still life with apples says the sun wants to go down"
38x61 private collection
"A very quiet village"
61x38 private collection
" Maize "
65x81 (1953) private collection
Act for the stabilization and restoration of artistic works
Today a work of art painted by a little-known artist has very little chance of obtaining restoration for its good conservation. Often too expensive, the safeguard of this heritage is compromised, and the Work doomed to certain deterioration. Of course, some individuals will do this restoration themselves at the risk of making mistakes making the canvas even more fragile. This is why today I draw your attention to the urgent need to restore certain paintings by Trude Von Molo. Today we come to a point where the paintings become moldy, the pictorial layer falls, the often pierced canvas relaxes. This is why I would like to thank in advance all those who will participate in the fund for the restoration of this heritage on the fringes of the museum company (donate button at the bottom of the page).
Below you can discover the paintings in need of restoration. Each canvas, once restored, will be integrated with the others in this artistic story. The accessibility of this blog to all is essential so as not to forget the memory of the artist and to develop the reader (if possible) a pleasant walk.
"In the park" September 1953
60x61 private collection
Trude VON MOLO posing in front of her painting "in the park" in Madrid in 1955
Photograph of the artist and two Spanish curators taken during the Madrid exhibition in 1955. In the background is the painting "in the park" (present in color above).
Photographs of paintings by Marc Vaux (1895-1971)
Here is a collection of photographs of Trude Von Molo's Paintings made by Marc Vaux. The latter is known for having photographed works of art by Parisian artists such as Henri Matisse to whom he will rent his house. The photographer will even open the Montparnasse museum on avenue du Maine in Paris. The painting " Corbilly Guard House " was exhibited in the museum (see its description above). Marc Vaux photographed more than 250,000 works by artists, a large part of which (glass plates) are kept at the Center Pompidou in Paris.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
Please do not hesitate to report me a table that you have to include it in this catalog! (I can also give you information on the presence or not of the painting at one of the exhibitions mentioned above)
