The painter and engraver Almery Lobel-Riche was born on 03.05.1880 in Geneva, Switzerland to parents of French descent. He is widely recognized for his images of elite society during the “Belle Epoque” as well as his numerous book illustrations. Lobel-Riche began his artistic studies at the École des Beaux Arts in Montpelier and continued them in Paris under the guidance of Bonnat. Success came quickly to him when the drawings he submitted to the newspaper “Le Rire” were immediately accepted for publication in 1895. It was his sensuous and elegant depictions of girls and women that truly made his mark. He illustrated several books by well-known authors such as Oscar Wilde, Charles Baudelaire, Pierre Louys, Valery and others. Lobel-Riche exhibited in Paris, London and Switzerland. In 1992 his work was included in the exhibition De Bonnard à Baselitz at the National Library in Paris for which his biography was written in the exhibit catalogue. Died in Paris in 1950.
During the Great war, he was most recognized for his works that depicted Morocco and Macedonian front. He was stationed in Thessaloniki from where he made many trips around Aegean Macedonia illustrating the daily life of Macedonian people. He produced at least 12 lithographs depicting people and daily life in Thessaloniki, and the villages of Vostaran and Boresnica (near Florina). Hisoil painting entitled “Mosquée des douze apôtres, Salonique” (Mosque of twelve apostles, Salonica” was sold by the auction house Gros-Delettrez (S.V.V.), in Paris, on 13/12/2005 (lot number 512). Further examples of his Macedonian works is the watercolor “Les Monts Varila en Macédoine serbe 24/11/1915” sold by the auction house Couturier-De Nicolay, Paris on 26.03.1993 (lot number 104); and the lithography “Armée Française d’Orient: en Macédoine” sold by auction house Tajan, Paris on 03.02.1995 (lot number 188). The whole portfolio of lithographs of Macedonia is in the collection of the author of this lexicon.
