Jules Chadel
Clermont Ferrand 1870 – Paris 1941
Mountain landscape with a village in the right
Monogrammed JCH lower right.
Pen and China ink, watercolor. Framing lines with black chalk.
248 x 317 mm – 9,76 x 12,48 in.
A student in the École des beaux-arts in Clermont-Ferrand, Jules Chadel transferred in 1839 to the École des arts décoratifs in Paris. He worked as a draughtsman for the jewel designer Georges Le Turq before entering the more famous Henri Vever’s workshop. There he discovered Japanese art, which was to make a long-lasting impression on him.
Alongside Prosper-Alphonse Isaac, he undertook to learn oriental graphic techniques and wood engraving with Yoshijiro Urushibara, a Japanese artist living between Paris and London from 1908 to 1940.
Following Henri Rivière’s example, he discovered Brittany, where he executed numerous wash and watercolor drawings, preparatory to wood engravings. Chadel was one of the few artists to carry this Japanese-style to the extreme, using exclusively Japanese techniques and practicing monochrome drawing.