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Born in 1902 in Alace-Lorraine, France, Cobelle studied privately with with Raoul Dufy and Marc Chagall, both of whom helped him to lay the groundwork for the formation of his own unique style. Cobelle was one of the last living links to the great tradition of the school of Paris. As such, his work possesses it's own special magic, which seems all the more refreshing and life affirming - like a literal burst of fresh air and sunlight - in the often overcast climate of contemporary angst and uncertainty. Charles Cobelle's favorite subject was the city of Paris. With verve and wit, he painted its boulevards and byways, its racetracks and regattas, its circuses and casinos, in a sparkling palette of brilliant colors, unified by a calligraphic shorthand of deftly drawn figurative architectonic forms The most immediately striking quality of Cobelle's paintings is their charming vivacity. Clearly, the world he depicted belongs as much to the artist's imagination as to his powers of direct observation. In this bustling world, there are no unpleasant occurrences or disturbing anomalies. Rather, life is at peace and proceeds at a brisk pace, further quickened by Cobelle's lively strokes and an unfailing ability to maintain a vibrant clarity in his colors. The lack of uncertainty that Cobelle expressed in his subject matter sprang directly from his absolute confidence as a draftsman, as well as the strong formal structuring that underlies his deceptively simple surfaces and seemingly insouciant approach. Only by looking beyond the easy charm of Cobelle's watercolors and canvases to their compositional mastery and subtle coloristic harmonies, can one fully appreciate the strict formal qualities that contribute to their appearance of effortlessness.  Charles
Cobelle's compositional abilities are particularly impressive in the large
mixed media painting "Ru de la Paix," with it's intricate
arrangement of human figures, horse drawn carts, flowering trees and brightly
colored shop awnings and kiosks. Here, as in all of Cobelle's paintings,
the representational elements are drawn in a fluent black line over vigorously
brushed areas of color that retain an abstract autonomy all their own. Cobelle made no attempt to strictly integrate 
form and color, preferring to make his lively line roam freely over his
painterly
patchwork of bright hues, resulting in an exhilarating sense of movement
as if his figures scurry so swiftly as to escape static
placement in the composition.
Skillfully
generalized, Cobelle's many small figures have the
airy quality of pictograms, rather than specific individuals. In this manner
Cobelle makes the figure a symbol of collective activity, joyously free
of introspection or individual emotion. Buildings, kiosks and other elements
of a local color are also stylized, in a manner seemingly informed by French
baroque illustration and ornament. This gives them a quality of stage sets,
hinting at a higher, more theatrical truth beyond the limitations of ordinary
appearances.Conversely, in many of Cobelle's pictures the sky is rendered in more naturalistically substantial strokes of brilliant yellow and blue pigment, stressing an eternal quality in the stratospheres that transcends the transitory flurry of human activity down below.  In
contrast to Cobelle's more intricate compositions, another mixed media painting
 "Horse
Race" expresses a bolder sense of speedy movement with
its dynamic large forms, while such luminous watercolors as "Circus"
depict the innate gaiety with stunning simplicity and breezy sophistication.
Also outstanding among Cobelle's paintings is "Dancing Girls," with it's bevy of  identical
beauties kicking their pretty pink legs in the air, to the obvious delight
of the patrons in an elegant nightclub.In a time when art has a way of making taxing demands on the viewer, the paintings of Charles Cobelle provide a welcome oasis of unadulterated pleasure, enriching our appreciation of reality through the irrepressible resources of the artists imagination. Raoul Dufy once declared that his eyes were "made to deface all that is ugly," and the same can be said for his former student Charles Cobelle, whose own mature mastery demonstrated that art need not be solemn in order to be serious. |
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