Léon-John Wasley 1880-1917

“Mr. Wasley, fallen on the field of honor, showed remarkable gifts; and it is to be deplored that this talent, like so many others, alas! was cut down by the war.”

These words, proposed in May 1918 by Pierre Mille in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, express well the dismay felt by part of the Parisian art criticism following the death of the sculptor Léon-John Wasley, killed by a shell at Verdun on March 25, 1917. Trained at the Germain-Pilon School, the artist had earned a solid reputation at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, first as a designer of metalwork and later as a sculptor. After notable beginnings alongside the ornamentalist Gaston Laffitte in 1901, he established himself independently, presenting from 1902 to 1904 small pewter objects drawing on the broad vegetal and animal repertoire characteristic of Art Nouveau, such as bat-shaped buckles that surprised by their originality. From 1906 onwards, he decisively turned to sculpture, exhibiting without interruption at the Salon until 1913. Stylistically, his early models were influenced by Rodin, but he found his own path by synthesizing the forms in his works, drawing him closer to the contemporary explorations of Maillol. As Pierre Mortier, director of Gil Blas, observed:

“Léon-John Wasley […] does not linger over the minutiae of modeling. He seeks to move, like the archaic Greeks and the Egyptians, through the sheer power of well-established volumes and carefully arranged silhouettes.”

At the 1910 Salon of the Nationale, he exhibited a significant plaster Ecce Homo (cat. no. 2028), for which he received a stone commission, presented the following year at the same Salon (cat. no. 2061). Participating in the Franco-British exhibition in London in 1908, he achieved a measure of international recognition, particularly in South America, where, according to Mortier, “his art is greatly appreciated; there are already three monuments, and one can easily imagine these somewhat symbolic, yet very lively figures, in the great tropical light.” Indeed, one of his Christ figures was erected on a tomb in Argentina. In 1912, Wasley undertook an extensive several-month trip to Brazil to present his Seated Woman (fig. 1) following its exhibition at the Salon.

Although the French state acquired his Crouching Woman in 1915, the sculptor’s name remains forever associated with Montmartre bohemia and the cabaret Le Lapin Agile, where one of his early works, a very Rodinian emaciated Christ, still adorns the main hall, surrounded by a dense and eclectic display (fig. 2). According to legend, on a Christmas evening, probably around 1903, Wasley brought this large plaster Christ to Father Frédé, who hung it on the wall of his famous cabaret. Francis Carco recalled that clients sometimes used it as a coat rack, and in 1905, the owner pinned a large Picasso painting on the long legs of this unusual sculpture, portraying him alongside Laure Pichot and the painter dressed as a harlequin. Establishing his studios successively at the Bateau-Lavoir and then on rue Girardon, near the Château des Brouillards, Wasley shared life on the Butte with emerging artists and writers, forging connections with André Warnod, Pierre Dumarchey (aka Mac Orlan), Carco, and Max Jacob. At Le Lapin Agile, he rubbed shoulders with Aristide Bruant, Léon-Paul Fargue, Roland Dorgelès, and also had the opportunity to meet Apollinaire, Picasso, Braque, Modigliani, and André Salmon.

Dated 1905, the two large oil on canvas paintings we present constitute rare testimony of Léon-John Wasley’s painted corpus and illustrate how, from his youth, the artist assimilated certain plastic elements of the Parisian avant-garde. Although his painting, virtually unknown until now, does not appear to have been exhibited during his lifetime, it attracted some critical attention during the posthumous retrospective organized in October-November 1919 by the Galerie des Feuillets d’Art, 11 rue Saint-Florentin, Paris. Despite the premature loss of their author, Benvenuto emphasized in La Gerbe how Wasley “was already a fine artist,” citing in particular “his paintings, reminiscent of Van Rysselberghe [and his watercolors], which show us he did not hesitate to wade into deep waters without drowning.” The comparison with the Belgian pointillist painter is indeed apt when examining our two canvases. The first depicts rue de l’Abreuvoir in Old Montmartre (fig. 3), remarkable for the masterful divisionist technique, the contrasts of light and shadow on the cobblestones, combined with vivid colors that the Fauves would not have denied. Retaining the charm and layout of a village path with its old houses, this picturesque Parisian street, which Utrillo would later paint repeatedly, curves along the flank of the Butte, inviting direct strolling. Viewed from the Allée des Brouillards, near one of Wasley’s addresses, it emphasizes on the left the bright red storefront of Maison Georges, a tavern and grocery renowned for its generosity toward impecunious artists. The white dome of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica appears subtly on the horizon, almost hidden in the pointillist sky, still lacking the imposing bell tower completed only in 1912.

Our second painting represents the interior of the studio Wasley occupied from 1903 at 5 rue de l’Aqueduc, in the 10th arrondissement, before moving in 1908 to 6 boulevard de Clichy at the foot of the Butte. The artist frames his creative intimacy with the large easel and palette to the right, his old coal stove and a small stand on the left, on which rests a curious Art Nouveau object (vase or lamp base, probably pewter), evoking his early Salon submissions. The wall behind the stove displays a plaster mold of a nude torso above a small medallion set in red velvet, announcing Wasley’s sculptural vocation, alongside a few paintings, dominated by our imposing Rue de l’Abreuvoir. In the background, the artist likely depicts himself seated with crossed legs, wearing his red artist’s slippers and smoking a pipe, in the company of a partially nude female model assuming the pose of a modern muse. Above the pair, the light from the skylight subtly shades the elements of the room in delicate pointillist strokes. In their originality, these paintings, alongside the artist’s sculptures, moved his friend André Warnod, who prefaced the 1919 posthumous exhibition:

“Warnod moves us by recalling the firmness of character of the departed artist. He was one of those who preferred hardship to assured mediocrity; he had written: I do not want to tell myself, when I am old: ‘You did not dare!’ Words that many could reflect upon. But Wasley would not grow old; too bad for art; perhaps good for him. Was he not born to suffer, since he had talent?”