Box at the Opera-Comique
1887
Charles COTTET
(1863 - 1925)
Oil on wood

Cottet did not receive the traditional artistic training of the period and tried hia hand at a variety of subjects, including still lifes and scenes depicting contemporary life, as seen in this quick sketch. This picture illustrates the friendship between Cottet and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, whom he had met in 1884. It also reveals the influence of Edgar Degas, in the use of cut-off perspectives. It demonstrates a great freedom of treatment in bothe his composition and brushwork. At the front of the box, a head and a hat stand out against the background, further back inside the box, several vaguely sketched figures appear with featureless faces reminiscent of caricatures.

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