Charles Cobelle Original Mixed Media Painting Triptych - Set of 3 - MCM

Details

Description

Curator Overview:
Offered as an exceptional, cohesive vintage collection, this matching suite features three original mid-century mixed-media works by celebrated … Read more Curator Overview:
Offered as an exceptional, cohesive vintage collection, this matching suite features three original mid-century mixed-media works by celebrated French artist Charles Cobelle (1902–1998). Executed on heavy-weight, deckled-edge fine art paper, these pieces combine fluid watercolor washes, vibrant opaque gouache shapes, and crisp, hand-inked linework in the artist's iconic open-line School of Paris style. This beautifully curated trio features a unique mix of orientations (two portrait, one landscape), presenting a turn-key opportunity for an interior designer or high-end collector looking to assemble a dynamic, asymmetrical mid-century gallery wall. Sold strictly as a single combined lot of three.

Historical Significance and Pre-1965 Studio Fire Survival:
These original works date directly to the late 1950s or early 1960s. In 1965, a catastrophic studio fire on Barlow Mountain Road in Ridgefield, Connecticut, destroyed the vast majority of Charles Cobelle's early original canvases and personal records. Having been safely preserved in a private collection at the time, this trio represents a highly scarce, surviving window of his pristine pre-1965 artistic output. Each piece features the artist’s hand-penned signature in the lower margin alongside a personal, hand-written studio dedication reading, "To my friend Dan from Cobelle."

Included Compositional Subjects and Orientations:
- Artwork One (Portrait / Vertical, 23 inches wide by 35 inches high) depicts a Reclining Couple under a Crescent Moon with a Grand Urn Overlooking the Sacré-Cœur and Moulin Rouge.
- Artwork Two (Portrait / Vertical, 23 inches wide by 35 inches high) depicts a Surrealist Mid-Century Musical Symphony featuring Cello, Violin, and Clock Motifs.
- Artwork Three (Landscape / Horizontal, 35 inches wide by 23 inches high) depicts Parisian Lovers Overlooking the Grand Palais with a Vintage Horse and Carriage Street Scene.

Condition and Archival Conservation Report:
The pigment layers remain exceptionally crisp, bright, and vibrant. As authentic vintage works on paper, they exhibit minor, age-appropriate edge toning, localized mat burn, and faint foxing. Crucially, these blemishes are confined strictly to the extreme outer perimeter margins, leaving the central primary imagery completely clear and unaffected.

To ensure complete chemical stabilization, each artwork has been surgically removed from aging frames and individually placed into a museum-quality flat conservation housing using premium archival materials: Bags Unlimited KSPFC Acid-Free, Lignin-Free Buffered Fluted Plastic Corrugated Backing Boards (36 by 24 by 3/16 inches); safely secured using Lineco 4-inch Archival See-Through Polyethylene Mounting Strips with completely non-adhesive contact to the artwork fabric; interleaved with conservation-grade Acid-Free Glassine Paper surface protection; and finished with a single-hinged protective Bags Unlimited KSPFC cover facing layer secured along a single outer edge with Lineco Archival Linen Mounting Tape.

Archival Shipping and Handling:
To preserve their structural integrity and flat conservation status, these pieces will absolutely not be rolled for transit. They will be packed securely flat inside their custom archival folders, densely sandwiched between heavy-duty rigid outer walls inside a heavy-duty 39 by 27 by 2 inch flat box with corner protection, and shipped via fully tracked, insured delivery. See less