Ribot’s drawing of a Vanitas belongs to a small group of works in which he explored bones and skulls with uncompromising intensity. On our sheet, dense crosshatching builds volume with remarkable precision, the vigorous strokes and deep shadows lending the cranium both weight and fragility. Few of Ribot’s works combine such mastery of execution with the intrinsic violence of the subject, making this one of his most powerful and accomplished drawings.
Vanitas are rare in his œuvre, yet our sheet resonates with his painted studies of animal skulls (fig. 1) and cuts of meat, where mortality is expressed through the raw materiality of flesh and bone. Our Vanitas was part of Mr Aizpiri’s rich collection of drawings by Ribot, and was exhibited at the Hôtel de Ville of Colombes in 1934.