THE CARD GAME

Painter of nudes, scenes with figures, genre scenes, landscapes and still-lifes; watercolourist, draughtsman and illustrator.

Charles Auguste Edelmann studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris with Jean léon Gérôme and Ferdinand Humbert. In Paris he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, to which he belonged and at the Union des Artistes Alsaciens. He had also solo shows in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.

Edelmann painted various subjects, often street scenes. His landscapes came later: Alsace, Brittany in the Île de Bréat, the Landes and Corrèze, the countryside near Paris and L’Isle-d’Adam. Then he painted domestic interiors, often including nudes. He then illustrated a number of books, among them “Valentine Pacquault” by Gaston Chérau, “Boubouroche” by Georges Courteline, “Nuits de Princes” (“Princes’ Nights”) by Joseph Kessel, “Un Coeur Vierge” (“An Untouched Heart”) by Eugène Montfort, “Les nuits chaudes du Cap Français” (“Warm Nights at Cap Français”) by Hugues Rebell, “Eloge de la Danse” (“In Praise of Dance”) by Gustave Welter and novels by Balzac.

Edelmann could produce a swift and accurate sketch, knowing just how to evoke the gesture, attitude or detail that reveals character.