125. Xavier Mellery, Ass Pulling a Cart
| Artist | Xavier Mellery, Belgian, Laeken (Brussels) 1845–Brussels 1921 |
| Title, Date | Ass Pulling a Cart (La charrette et son âne), not dated |
| Medium | Charcoal |
| Dimensions | 7 1/4 × 9 3/4 in. (18.5 × 24.7 cm) |
| Inscriptions + Marks | Lower left: X / Mellery |
| Provenance | [Galerie La Scala, Paris, until 2011; to Weisberg]; Yvonne and Gabriel Weisberg, Minneapolis |
| Exhibition History | "Reflections on Reality: Drawings and Paintings from the Weisberg Collection," Mia, 2022–23 |
| Credit Line | Promised gift of Gabriel P. and Yvonne M.L. Weisberg, Minneapolis |
As his career progressed, Xavier Mellery moved away from Realism in favor of a personal type of abstraction that aligned him with the symbolist movement in Belgium. This drawing, with its semimystical aura, is almost in this camp. The movement of the horse and cart across the frontal plane is difficult to discern, in part because of the muted light. Mellery often veiled his images in darkness, which can make them hard to read. With the table and benches at oblique angles in the foreground, this drawing also recalls some of the outdoor scenes by members of the Nabis—the name derives from the Hebrew word for prophet—a group of progressive French artists that Mellery certainly would have known. His use of the furniture tends to flatten space, which emphasizes the surface of the drawing and the abstract qualities of the composition.
GPW