My first clues about this wonderful 1950's oil on canvas came from the back of the painting. There is a label from The Galleries of The Roosevelt Field Art Center in Long Island which identifies the artist as 'Fabert Himbert'. The canvas has a handwritten N.Y.C. address of 30 E. 14 St. and the name Himbert.
30 E. 14th St. N.Y.C.
In researching works, I found a number of pieces that looked similar stylistically to the Jean Faber Himbert paintings that were signed Jacques Fabert. The signatures looked similar too.
An article in 'The El Paso Times' from 1957 was very helpful in answering some big questions. A photograph shows "Mr. and Mrs. Jaques Hibert, known to the art world as Jean Faber Himbert and Jean Hyson". The article gives some good background information on the couple, both of whom were artists. They were in Texas to paint before going on to Mexico and then South America. At the time, he was 32 and represented by the Little Studio in N.Y.C. as well as Galerie Drouant-David in Paris. The article mentions that he had already shown in N.Y.C., Washington, Chicago, Beverly Hills and Boston, and his patrons included Pamela Woolworth, Vincent Price, Clifton Fadiman and Hal March. Himbert was born in Paris and studied at the Beaux Arts for four years. Hyson was born in the U.S. She was working in a New York gallery that handled Himbert's work, and met him on a trip to Europe after having seen his paintings in the states. The article closes stating "The artistic pair hope to settle down eventually in a part of the U.S. appearing as nearly like the Riviera as possible. Himbert also plans to become a U.S. citizen."
The 1957 El Paso article is the only piece I could find in which he is referred to as Jean Faber Himbert. After that, he becomes Jacques Fabert. A November 1961 article from 'The San Francisco Examiner' refers to him as "Jacques Fabert, a San Franciscan who has studied with Leger and Andre Lhote". There are occassional mentions of shows by Fabert and Hyson during the sixties. Fabert and Hyson divorced sometime prior to April of 1974. A notice in 'The San Francisco Examiner' announces Hyson's fourth marriage to photographer Tony Fabert. "Which is interesting because her last husband was Jacques Fabert. Tony's daddy." She married her stepson. Tony was Jacque's son from his first wife in France.
Meanwhile....at some point prior to 1972 Jacques Fabert developed a relationship with Bonnie Maclean in San Francisco. Bonnie Maclean is an artist and the former wife of rock concert promoter Bill Graham. She is perhaps best known for her late 1960's poster art advertising Graham's concerts. MacLean and Graham married in 1967 but had a difficult marriage. After finding out about several affairs, MacLean left Graham and later moved to Bucks County with her son David and Jacques Fabert in 1972.
Fast forward a bit to August of 1978. Jacques Fabert's ex-wife, Jean Hyson, and his son Tony have been married for about four years and are living in a home in San Francisco. On August 13, 1978, she fatally shot Tony.
"On the day before the homicide, August 12, defendant and her husband saw her psychiatrist, Dr. Harris. Defendant had seen Dr. Harris on at least three other occasions. Defendant became panicky because of the many hours her husband spent away from home. At the August 12 session with Dr. Harris, defendant's husband denied that he was seeing another woman.
When defendant arrived home on the evening of August 12, her husband was not home. However, he left a note stating he would return in a few hours. When he had not returned by midnight, defendant unsuccessfully tried to locate him by telephoning the police and several of his work colleagues. He finally returned about 8:45 a. m. and they talked. He told defendant that he was seeing another woman, someone “he had met on the street.” Defendant felt as if she had been hit on the head; everything went white. The next thing she remembered was coming up the stairs with the police.
She was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. The judgement was later reversed on appeal that her constitutional right against self incrimination was violated. She is in her late eighties and still lives in San Francisco.
Jacques Fabert and Bonnie MacLean married in 1981. He died in October of 2013 in Bucks County where he had lived with Bonnie since 1972.
The art world is a fascinating place to spend some time. Living there, is another story. And another. And another.
