(To My Friend Coco) Back View of a Standing Female Nude with Shoes

Henri Hébert acquired his artistic training at different times in both Paris and Montreal. From 1896 to 1898, he first studied with Edmond Dyonnet at the Council of Arts and Manufactures in Montreal. He continued his training in Paris, initially in night classes at the École du soir de la Ville de Paris from 1898 to 1902, and from 1900 to 1902 at the École des Arts Décoratifs. Returning to Montreal in 1902, he studied under Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal until 1904, before completing his artistic education in 1908 at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the tutelage of Gabriel-Jules Thomas and Jean Antoine Injalbert.


In this elegant drawing, the model’s contrapposto stance, emphasized by the right arm concealing her breast, highlights the body’s curved lines. The Mary Jane shoes, very fashionable in the 1920s, help eroticize the subject. The decidedly modern woman who served as its model was Corinne Dupuis-Maillet, “Coco” to her friends, the daughter of the president of the Dupuis Frères department stores and the wife of Roger Maillet, founder of the Tribu des Casoars literary group. She was also a musician, painter, actress, journalist and editor who signed some of her works under the names Rhobena Dippy and Colin-Martel.