’Fête Joyeuse’ Oil on Canvas Painting by James Pichette, 1953
Painted in autumn 1953, Fête Joyeuse captures James Pichette at the moment he helped shift postwar French painting from geometric order to the free, rhythmic colour that would define his career. Arcs of vermilion, sapphire and rose pirouette across pointillist washes; a single gold line cuts through like a jazz riff fading in a Paris club. The studio inscription remains on the reverse, and the work is housed in a silver-leaf cassetta frame, echoing the metallic flashes in the surface.
Early Pichette canvases are increasingly sought after—cited by scholars, collected for their rarity, and regularly featured in curatorial surveys. For interiors, the piece brings Parisian modernity; for collectors, it offers a museum-calibre origin and long-term value.
Pichette (1920–1996) emerged alongside Hartung, Soulages and Schneider, exhibiting at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles before moving to Amsterdam on a Dutch government grant. By 1960 he was painting to live jazz in New York, later collaborating at Europe’s first free-jazz festival. Retrospectives in London and at Musée Descartes have cemented his standing in the canon of Lyrical Abstraction. An exhibition of his work was named “Critics’ Choice” by the Financial Times.
DIMENSIONS: 23.5"W x 1"D x 29.5"H
ORIGIN: France
PERIOD: 1950s
MATERIALS: Canvas,Oil Paint,Wood
CONDITION:
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