CAHOURS Henry Maurice (1889-1974)

"Portrait of the sculptor Pedro Olaïzola"

Oil on panel,
Signed lower right,
Annotated on the back of the panel: "Pedro Olaizola - Sculptor",

Beautiful and rare work of the painter Henry Maurice Cahours which represents the portrait of the Uruguayan sculptor Pedro Olaïzola in his workshop in Montmartre.
The painter and the sculptor must have met and become friends in Paris.
The bust in the background could be that of the Uruguayan Italo Eduardo Perotti (1883-1972), chancellor of the Consul General of Rome and correspondent of the newspaper "La Nation" of Buenos Aires. He then became President of the Chamber of Deputies of Uruguay and legislator for 20 years. He met the sculptor Pedro Olaïzola in Paris.

Henry Maurice Cahours moved to Paris in Pissarro's studio in 1916 after his marriage to the daughter of the sculptor Frédéric Debon and rubbed shoulders with the painters Utrillo, Max Jacob and Derain in Montmartre.
It was during this period that the painter began to stay in Douarnenez.
He participated in the Salon des Artistes Français in 1920 then at the Salon des Indépendants in 1922 and until 1942.
In 1960, he moved to Vence and succeeded in taming the light of Provence said to be “too raw” for Impressionism.
His paintings are praised by critics for having great sensitivity.

Pedro Olaïzola (1909-1984) was born in Uruguay, to Pedro Mari Olaïzola, a shoemaker, and his wife Joaquina Soza. He has six brothers and sisters.
It would be under the leadership of the sculptor Edmundo Pratti that Pedro became interested in sculpture and came to France. He immigrated to France and in 1938, Pedro Olaïzola lived at 16 rue St Gothard in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.

In 1944, he joined the French Interior Forces (FFI) under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Brechat. He fought courageously on the barricades of the Porte d'Orléans, attacking the occupiers' tanks with grenades and incendiary bottles. He was cited in the Order of National Merit in September 1944.
In 1947, he registered in the trade register as a sculptor and gilder, then settled on the Montmartre hill with Paule Delalande, founder of the "Baguette de wood" (frame).

Dimensions: 38 x 46 cm without frame and 54 x 63 cm with its original wooden frame.

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