The Collector ,
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Note : Verso is a previously disregarded painting
Claude Bouscharain has earned recognition for her compelling and enigmatic compositions. Born in France, Bouscharain first studied child-psychology at the Institut Jean-Jacques Rousseau before finding herself lured to painting.1 Pursuing art she studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Art Students’ League in New York and at the Academie Montmartre in Paris under Fernand Léger. At Léger’s studio she met Erik Laubscher, whom she married and accompanied to South Africa in 1951.
Predating the recognisable mature style of Claude Bouscharain, is this painting, The Collector. Paying homage to Henri Matisse2 and Fernand Léger3 , Bouscharain has borrowed elements from these artists in the subject’s pose and features as well as the strong palette and use of complementary contrasts.
In this work the protagonist sits central within the canvas. This hierarchical composition is further enhanced by her deadpan expression and direct gaze which challenges the viewer. The seemingly random display of artefacts on the table in front of her is in deliberate contrast to the gravity of her pose. The display and act of ownership of such objects can be likened to a ‘cabinet of curiosities ’, or Cabinet of Wonder, a collection of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined.4 Historically these cabinets conveyed the patron's control of the world through their selective inclusion and deliberate editing as determined by their taste, thus dictating collecting trends.
1 Arnott Bruce. Claude Bouscharain. C. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1977, page 7
2 http://www.wmofa.com/artists/Matisse,_Henri/image/Striped_Robe_Fruits_and_Anemones_1940.jpg
3 http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/fernand-leger/the-woman-with-the-fruit-dish-1924
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_curiosities
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