Labouret Private Gallery

06/17/2026

This is Jules Dalou’s The Stone Breaker (c. 1890), a rare bronze cast by the legendary Susse Frères foundry. Instead of a heroic, mid-swing pose, Dalou captures “the dignity of the pause”—a masterclass in raw focus and mind over matter.

👇 Read the full curator’s exhibition text and the fascinating story behind this piece in the comments below!

05/06/2026

Tom Baril (American 1952)
Chrysler Building Through Window, 1995
Toned gelatin silver print
23 1/4 × 18 3/8 in | 59.1 × 46.7 cm
Limited Edition of 25
Hand-signed by artist, Signed recto mount
Framed 33 14 x 27 1/4 x 1 1/4 in / 84.4 x 69.2 x 3.2 cm

The Formalist Sensualist: Tom Baril’s Transit of Light.
While the Chrysler Building is a titan of New York architecture, in the hands of Tom Baril, it becomes a study of metallic intimacy.
Baril—the legendary master printer for Robert Mapplethorpe—is a “Formalist Sensualist.”
He uses the rigid geometry of the 4x5 view camera to capture formalist lines (the diagonal shadows, the vertical spire) but renders them with a sensualist’s obsession with texture.
The Technique:
This isn’t just a photograph; it’s a silver gelatin artifact. Baril’s mastery lies in his ability to push the chemistry of the print so that the light doesn’t just sit on the paper
—it appears to radiate from within the fibers. Notice the “glow” on the interior wall; that is the result of precise exposure and a deep understanding of silver-rich papers
that few contemporary artists can replicate.
He treats the room not as a location, but as a Camera Obscura—a dark box where the world outside is “reinvented” through a single aperture of light.
MasterPrinter

02/21/2026

Reuben Nakian (1897–1986): The Titan of Action Sculpting.
They say “Action Painting,” but Nakian forced that same New York School energy into solid bronze. This isn’t just a myth—it’s a physical struggle. At 81 years old, Nakian was still pulling and pushing the material to find the “diagonal thrust” of the ancients.
Like the Victory of Samothrace, the form is wind-blown and eternal. It’s alive because it’s never truly “finished.”
Object Details:
• Artist: Reuben Nakian
• Title: Leda and the Swan
• Year: 1978
• Medium: Bronze
• Edition: 2 of 7
• Dimensions: 8 \times 8 \text{ } 7/8 Inches
NewYorkSchool Sculpture ArtHistory

12/08/2025

Manfred Schwartz (1909-1970)
Celestial circa 1963-64
Tondo oil on canvas
39 inches diameter (100 cm.)

Exhibited:
Manfred Schwartz: The Last Ten Years
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of e-sign, Providence, RI
January 17 - February 24, 1974

Mentioned in the museum catalogue under the reference painting 14

Knoedler Gallery, NY
September Gallery, NY
April 1974

Private collection NY
LPG, NYC

In 1950, American painter Manfred Schwartz, with the suggestion of his friend Henry Matisse, first visited the cliffs of Etretat in Normandy, France, to experience its legendary light. Ten years later, in 1960, he returned to finally attempt to create an original vision of a landscape that had been painted many times before by artists such as Monet, Boudin, and Matisse.

One of his few and last groundbreaking works, Celestial a tondo (or round) painting, was created between 1963 and 1964. This work transcends traditional representation by eliminating figuration. Schwartz focusses on the rounded and polished pebbles lying on the beach, studying how the light reflects off them

Using vibrant colours, Schwartz applies dots in a pointillist technique, allowing the white canvas background to shine through creating a sense of movement and vibration. His abstraction merges earth and sky, inviting viewers to feel the profound connection between the world and their emotions.

12/08/2025

11/03/2025

Lucas Samaras Untitled pastel form June 11, 1962

11/05/2024

Post 2 of 2 Conversation continues on Nathan Olveira Sleeping Female N**e 1966

about abstract composition, thematic focus, and symbolic depth.

Art Enthusiast:** The abstract elements in “Sleeping Female N**e” offer a layered complexity that transcends the literal depiction.

**Art Critic:** Oliveira’s abstraction doesn’t just represent form—it reveals emotion and introspection, connecting with Brancusi’s and Beckmann’s introspective works.

**Art Enthusiast:** It’s an interplay of abstraction and figurative art that engages viewers deeply.

**Art Critic:** Precisely! By blending forms and environments, Oliveira contributes to the Bay Area Figurative Movement and challenges us to reflect on identity and perception. His composition transforms understanding of the artist-muse relationship into an intimate visual dialogue.

11/05/2024

Conversation on Nathan Oliveira (American 1928-2010)
Sleeping Female N**e, 1966
watercolor, ink and graphite on paper
15.5 x 19.25 in. (39.4 x 48.9 cm.)

Post 1 of 2

**Art Enthusiast:** Nathan Oliveira’s “Sleeping Female N**e” captivates through its abstracted composition. The figure seamlessly emerges from the backdrop, and this visual blend creates a unique narrative space.

**Art Critic:** Yes, Oliveira’s use of soft lines and minimal detail brings a dream-like quality to the piece. The muted palette enhances its introspective essence, blurring the boundary between figure and abstract environment, inviting a deep visual and emotional engagement.

**Art Enthusiast:** The central alignment of the muse forms a thematic focal point.

**Art Critic:** Indeed, it establishes a narrative center, supported by the visual “X” formed by the composition, symbolizing the convergence of muse and artist identities

10/26/2024

Untitled (pensive woman) 1967 charcoal on paper by Theophilus Brown 15 1/ x 13 1/2 “ (39,4 x 34,3 cm) framed 22 1/4 x 19 1/4 (56,6 x 48,9 cm)
Ex collection of Bret and Mary Lou Waller actor and curator ex director of the Indianapolis Museum and the Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor

Here is a drawing that just arrived. It is a portrait of Dory Previn Langan. Lyricist, songwriter and American poet (1925-2012) she was the second wife of André Previn (59-70). They collaborated to the composition of many film scores. Notably 5 songs from the 1967 movie Valley of the Dolls the same year this drawing was produced by artist and long time family friend Theophilus Brown. Her look is pensive, her head coiffed in beehive of the time placed on a fragile Twiggy-style body her left cheek rests on her large hand with long gnarled fingers. The hand of a musician she played the piano, the violin, the saxophone the flute the clarinet the drums, the guitar among other instruments The image is touching and melancholic. Maybe she already knows that 23 years old Mia Farrow is already settled in London with Previn. A fear of flying prevents her from joining him.
The story that I traced behind the drawing might sound for some a little too heavy but one can choose its own way of looking at her. After all it’s the swinging 60’s and the artist Theophilus Brown is at his creative peak. His fluid drawing made of broken and re-connected lines, where movement is palpable is a fine example of Brown drawing skills, instinctive and loose. the human figure directed internally connects to the space around, hand in hand abstract and figuration make one.
Brown was a prominent member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the late 50’s and 60’s together with Diebenkorn, David Park. Elmer Bischoff Paul Wonner Nathan Oliveira and James Weeks.
Price: $1,200.00

10/13/2024

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)