Félix REGAMEY (1844-1907) - Lot 36

Félix REGAMEY (1844-1907) "Young Japanese engineers expropriate butterflies for public utility", ca. 1880 Pastel on paper mounted on canvas, framed under glass, depicting two Japanese men in the middle of nature, one dressed in European garb, wearing a hat and looking at a document, the other a little further back in more traditional garb but with the beginnings of a Western influence, holding an open parasol in his left hand and a photogrammetric target in his right. Around them, a swarm of butterflies flutter by a stream and a flowering aquatic plant, in an unspoiled natural setting. Signed lower left. 105 x 56 cm (view) Large transverse tear and holes. This pastel, probably produced in the early 1880s, was clearly inspired by a drawing by Félix Régamey published in "Japon en images" and entitled "Fantaisie. -- Young Japanese engineers expropriate butterflies for public utility". There are some variations between the two works, whether in the costumes or the background décor, but the message remains the same. The artist exhibited in 1882 at "L'Exposition des Beaux-Arts, Salon de 1882" in the "Arts Décoratifs" section, whose catalog refers to this work. If certain details of the drawing do not appear in the pastel, such as the highly industrial background, it's because the sketch from life becomes a decorative painting presented in a salon. But there remains the enigma of one of the protagonists carrying a surveyor's tool. Here's the explanation. In the twilight of the 19th century, as Japan was opening up to the West, the French artist Félix Régamey, like an amazed witness, ventured into this land of the Rising Sun. Among his souvenirs, an enigmatic sketch catches the eye: "Young Japanese engineers expropriate butterflies for public utility". In this particular scene, Régamey has captured the emerging duality. The young Japanese, heirs to a long tradition, face the pressure of progress. The expropriation of butterflies, ephemeral symbols of nature, symbolizes the inexorable encroachment of modernity on the past. It's a delicate dance between the old and the new, in which butterflies become silent witnesses to social change. In this way, Régamey's sketch, and by extension his pastel, go beyond mere representation to become a timeless metaphor. The butterflies, torn from their graceful flight, are messengers of a nation in transition, where the quest for public utility is measured against preserved traditions. Even today, in the bustling streets of Tokyo or the quiet corners of Kyoto, this duality persists, sculpting modern Japan while paying homage to the fleeting shadow of expropriated butterflies.