Mariette Lydis (1887-1970) - Deux dessins originaux

Two original drawings by Mariette Lydis (1887–1970), made in Paris in 1936, graphite on prepared paper.

Both works belong to Lydis’s Paris period in the 1930s, a major phase of her career during which she developed notably a significant body of portraits and studies of female figures.

The first drawing, horizontal format (24 × 31 cm), depicts a young nude woman wearing a hat and a fabric tied around the waist. It bears the inscription “Raymonde,” probably the model’s name, followed by “Mariette Lydis, Paris 1936.”

The second drawing, vertical format (31 × 24 cm), shows a young nude woman, crouching and turned to the left. At the bottom right is the signature and the inscription “Mariette Lydis, Paris 1936.”

Both drawings are executed in graphite on beige-brown toned prepared paper. The color of the support and the softness of the pencil line give the figures a particularly subtle rendering.

The second drawing presents a few small pinpricks, slightly darker than the paper but remaining only faintly contrasted with the overall tone of the support. The overall condition is pleasant.

Both works are framed. The backs of the frames are protected by a kraft paper kept as is.

About the artist

Mariette Lydis settled in Paris in 1926 and enjoyed considerable success in the artistic and literary circles of Montparnasse in the 1930s. She participated notably in exhibitions of the Society of Modern Women Artists, alongside artists such as Marie Laurencin, Tamara de Lempicka, Chana Orloff, and Suzanne Valadon.

She was also close to the writer Henry de Montherlant, who dedicated a first important monograph to her in 1938. Her husband, Giuseppe Govone, is an art publisher who published works illustrated by Lydis. She was photographed by Man Ray in 1929; several of these portraits are today preserved at the Centre Pompidou.

The two drawings offered here date precisely from this Paris period. Executed in 1936, they testify to her work on paper and to her interest in female figures, in a delicately drawn pencil treatment.