Alice Bailly (1872-1938), 'Couleurs de France', 1916, huile sur calque marouflée sur toile, signée et datée, 35x46 cmNo d'inventaire du SIK-ISEA: 1211210010Bibliographie: Albert Rheinwald, L'art d'Alice Bailly, Galerie Moos, Genève, 1918, p. 51-52 Alice Bailly (1872-1938), "Colours of France", 1916, oil on tracing paper mounted on canvas, signed and dated, 35x46 cm SIK-ISEA inventory number: 1211210010 Bibliography: Albert Rheinwald, The Art of Alice Bailly, Galerie Moos, Geneva, 1918, p. 51-52 Alice Bailly is a major representative of the Swiss avant-garde. She was at the crossroads of several movements, cubism, fauvism, futurism, orphism and dada. She rubbed shoulders with the Parisian artistic circles, close to André Lhote, Raoul Dufy and Juan Gris. "Two fine and delicate hands have made a bouquet. Probably a woman's hands, the artist's hands' Bright and contrasting colours, like fireworks, burst out of the composition. Ribbons in the colours of France form rainbows, a sign of hope. Could it be a hat' The hat that the artist is preparing to wear on the long-awaited day of France's victory'' In 1914, war broke out and Alice Bailly left Paris for Switzerland. This work was created in the middle of the First World War, a period that was very distressing for the artist, and it bears witness to her hope to see France triumph. The hands have a very symbolic and important significance for the artist. Her hands, of which she was particularly proud, appear at the centre of many compositions. They symbolise the artist's presence, the brushstroke, and are the quintessence of beauty and creation. This important and historic work is a magnificent representation of the evolution of Alice Bailly's work during the war, when the artist moved from cubism to futurism.