Nouveau site http://www.regner.fr
Alfred Georgres REGNER, peintre graveur

Banquet du Salon de l'Art Libre
Lettre to M.X.

Fontainebleau, October 21, 1947

Sir,
I am in perfect agreement with you on the decorative aspect of my work. I only noticed it when I saw my pieces next to other artwork. In my studio, I had not realized it. I will fight against this pitfall in the future. I think that in trying to free myself from realism (I have been a member of the Salon des Artistes Français), I fell into this excess..

Sentimentalism, you say. Yes, but in the style of GREUZE. By psychoanalyzing this banal scene, one can discover a censured eroticism. "Le cheval à bascule" (The rocking horse) gives the idea of balance, of going forwards and backwards, of rubbing. The large blonde person is holding the horse's tail in her right hand, for the symbolism to be complete. With her left hand, she is caressing two large beads of her necklace. The movement of her thigh is equally revealing. The little boy has his toes fanned out as when one spits out his venom. Finally, the blonde person has no headdress, so she is no longer innocent. The little boy, on the other hand, has a hat on (symbol of his virginity), a paper hat that is fragile and could be soon torn. The color is black that makes one think of incestuous love with an older sister or a young mother. You can see that the latent content of this painting is quite risky. I am happy that everything is almost hidden; I do not want to be too wordy about it. I hardily thank you for your thoughtful comments in which I will find a powerful stimulant for my pictorial research. Perhaps I will obtain certain results, in part thanks to you.