Josué Gaboriaud

Josué Gaboriaud came from a family that had been carpenters for several generations. His father was involved in the construction of the Eiffel Tower, where he was seriously injured. When Josué Gaboriaud was rejected by the naval school, he opened a studio in Saint-Germain-en-Laye at the age of 18, because his father did not support his art studies financially. Initially Josué worked as a lithographer. In addition, he was enthusiastic about sports, especially running, boxing and rugby, while on holidays he also practiced sailing and deep-sea fishing.

The motive of speed brought his art close to the futurists. Gaboriaud’s sketches of athletes combine anatomical accuracy and a plastic expression of activity. He also produced oil paintings of dancers, still lifes, watercolors and prints. The drawings on the topic of Rugby were created as illustrations of a special edition of the piece of music of the same name for piano and orchestra by the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger. It was published in 1929 by Maurice Senart in 300 copies in a format of 38 x 28 cm.