Raymond Moritz 1891 - 1950. French. The Lady Of The Cliffs, 1927. Oil On Canvas. Framed.

Raymond Moritz.
French ( b.1891 - d.1950 ).
The Lady of the Cliffs, 1927
Oil on Canvas.
Signed lower left.
Image size 25 inches x 20.7 inches ( 63.5cm x 52.5cm ).
Frame size 29.3 inches x 24.8 inches ( 74.5cm x 63cm ).

Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset, this original oil painting is by the French artist Raymond Moritz and dates from 1927. 
The painting is presented and supplied in a sympathetic contemporary frame (which is shown in these photographs), mounted with new fixtures.
The canvas and the painted surface have benefitted from cleaning and conservation, which was performed on our instruction, supervision and approval. 
This vintage painting is now in very good condition. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.
The painting is signed lower left.
A later dedication to “Louise” dated April 1942 in the artist’s hand is set around the earlier signing.

Raymond Moritz was a French impressionist artist and illustrator. His family came from the Alsace region, although he was born in Paris. He fought in the Great War and was mentioned in dispatches. 
Moritz was a compassionate and brave man; he hid a Jewish doctor from 1942-44 and shielded him from deportation. He later adopted the two young daughters of a friend who had died.
Moritz produced some wonderful landscape and portrait paintings, and also some large frescos in public and religious buildings. He also created illustrations for various well-known publications. His work was regularly exhibited at principal galleries and original works are now a rare find.

© Big Sky Fine Art

This amazing original oil on canvas depicts a young woman seated on the edge of a grassy cliff overlooking a turquoise blue coastline. She is sitting on a white cloth and is completely naked, save for the red headband she is tying around her cropped auburn hair. She is facing away from the viewer, looking out to sea. Far below we see a small area of sandy beach, and various rocky outcrops. The sea is calm, and it is obviously a sunny day. This is a time of peace and liberation.

In the bottom left section of the painting there is a dedication by the artist: ‘A Louise bien affectionement, R. Moritz, Avril 1942’. It is likely that the painting was given as a gift by the artist at this time, but the work was actually created much earlier, in 1927, which is the date on the back of the canvas.

The painting is very much in the style of modern works created by artists in the 1920s, and is, for its time, a very daring work. It is reminiscent of a similar work entitled “The Bather” by Thomas Martine-Ronaldson (1881-1942), which is part of the permanent collection at the Russell Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth, UK. The young woman (in both of these works) has short hair, which would have been quite a daring and modern fashion at the time, and sitting naked on a clifftop is also an extremely liberated act! Now almost 100 years old, this wonderful work by Moritz is clean, stylish and simply stunning.

For a full biography of this artist please see his listing on www.bigskyfineart.com .

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