Desombres, Augustin

Augustin Marie Honoré Desombres is an artist and painter, born in Bourg-en- Bresse, France, on September 22, 1869 AD. Driven by a mysterious force, he found his way into the world of the Cities at least twice, and became obsessed with Mary Von Rathen ¹⁾.

Officially, he disappeared in November 1906 AD, although everything indicates that he, in fact, became the guardian of the A.Desombres Museum. He left in this building several frescoes that allow Passage into the Obscure World, and his work has seen a surprising rise in interest after 1990 AD ²⁾.

During his stay in the empty building in Aubrac, he painted several frescoes. Somehow he caused and repaired the problems in the Obscure World. He stayed a short while with Mary von Rathen. When he left back to our world, he was touched by Mary and his hand kept some strange markings ³⁾.

The catalog of the works of the Musée A. Desombres shows several artworks, mainly frescos, by the artist Desombres. This catalog was published in 1990. The works all have an Obscure vibe.

• Princesse Maleine (La)
• Enfant de Phœbus (L')
• Autoportrait au musée vide
• Distraction de l'astronome (La)
• Dernier Plan (Le)
• Miroir sans fin (Le)
• Faille (La)
• Passage Fatal (Le)
• Nuit blanche
• Pilote solitaire (Le)
• Périls du couloir (Les)
• Invention Crusoë (L')

The research by Catherina Aymerie published as L'Affaire Desombres in 2002 discovered several other artworks. These artwork resembles more to the old Flemish masters, but all with a significant link to the Obscure World.

The painting "Le collectionneur" was given as a gift on canvas to the members of Lumière sur les Cités.

Painting by Augustin Desombres as found in L'Affaire Desombres

Desombres (?) walking in a street of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) towards the Westertoren.

Another painting by Desombres as found in L'Affaire Desombres, presumed he made this painting also in The Netherlands

The art of Augustin Desombres was sold in a huge auction after the dead of Vigoleis Koelber in 1990 and the demolishing of the the Musée A. Desombres. Not much has been heard about Desombres since then.

In December 2020 rumours surfaced about (new) artwork by Augustin Desombres was found in an abandoned house in Brussels.

Excerpt from a Belgian daily newspaper: “An unexpected discovery in a Brussels house sparks a small community of enthusiasts. Hitherto unknown or almost unknown paintings by the painter Augustin Desombres have been appraised as authentic. The painter had made a name for himself at a historic auction at the dawn of the 1990s. Since then, the information has remained very patchy, this event could finally bring the artist out of the darkness in which he had probably voluntarily taken refuge”.

The first painting is of a man walking through the fields. According to Le Guide des Cités the painting is called “Return of the reaper”. During the writing of Le Guide des Cités the painter was still unknown.

This painting reminds of an earlier painting of a woman, assumed to be Mary Von Rathen. Mary met Desombres in an earlier stage of their lives ⁴⁾.

The second painting is a ship at sea. Again a classic painting with a strong reference to the Obscure Cities.

A second batch was revealed on December 5th, 2020:

This seems to be a painting of the Green Lake with the Island of Death by Arnold Böcklin at the back of the image. Böcklin was part of a research about Desombres in 1990 ⁵⁾.

This image depicts “ The Forgotten of Blossfeldtstad”. One of the most popular paintings in the Obscure World ⁶⁾.

“The young girl at the mill” or “The beautiful miller's daughter”. According to Le Guide des Cités some people think the girl is Mary Von Rathen ⁷⁾.

“Le collectionneur”, a painting attributed to Augustin Desombres according to Le Guide des Cités.

Excerpt from the letter of the 'Friends of Augustin Desombres' received at the editorial office of the local Brussels newspaper:

“…Some of these works had already been listed and have sometimes been the subject of reproductions, most often of poor quality. But the access to the originals remains difficult and very few are listed to this day… This sudden appearance leaves us questioning, the authenticity of the paintings is no longer in doubt and their number raises many questions … Recurring figures such as this person always leaning over, the mysterious Network, strange and incongruous objects, inexplicable situations are the signature of Desombres, but this woman painted as a bust in two works questions us… We are on the track of her identification, we think we hold there a key to the mystery…”.