Woman with a Banjo (Femme au banjo)

Woman with a Banjo was a preparatory drawing forGirls Around the Table, a large canvas by André Lhote that was exhibited in 1910 at the Galerie Druet (now in the Petit Palais Collection, Geneva). 

It is testimony to the relationship between Bourdelle and Lhote. The painter worked in Bourdelle's studio in 1912, helping him with the frescoes for the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It would appear that Bourdelle employed him to tile and enlarge the compositions for the frescoes. (Letter from Bourdelle to Lhote, 23 Dec. [1912]).

It was perhaps through Jacques Rivière, a man of letters, that the two men met. Lhote was enthusiastic about Bourdelle. In December 1912, Prince Eugen of Sweden and Norway and his nephew were in Paris and visited André Lhote on the introduction of Swedish painter Georg Pauli. Lhote took the princes to visit Bourdelle and show them his studio. During the visit, Prince Eugen acquired the Bust of Ingres and Apollo in Combat. He subsequently bought the first bronzeHercules the Archer for his palace at Waldemarsudde.

In a letter written in 1912, Lhote mentioned an exchange of works between himself and Bourdelle, a frequent practice between artists. Woman with a Banjo was probably part of this exchange, although we do not know what Bourdelle exchanged for it, or even whether it was a drawing or a plaster cast, as no work survives in the Lhote studio collection. 
The two men remained on good terms after the war, but were both very busy and they seldom saw one another. In November 1924, for example, Cléopâtre Bourdelle excused her husband for not attending the dinner given on the occasion of the Salon de la Jeune peinture belge, to which Lhote had invited him. However, Lhote exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries from 1923, when it was co-founded by Bourdelle. Both contributed to Louise Hervieu's book, L'Âme du cirque, in 1924. It seems that they also shared certain students, such as Jeanne Bergson, Daria Gamsaragan and Mela Muter.

Upon the sculptor's death, Lhote wrote a tribute, published in the Nouvelle Revue Française (Nov. 1929).

Valérie Montalbetti Kervella