Édouard Georges Mac-Avoy (born 25 January 1905 – 26 September 1991) was a French artist and

portraitist A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

Biography

Studies

Mac-Avoy's family descended from an Irish Catholic family that emigrated to France in the 17th century . Through his mother, Hélène de Cazalet, he also descended from a family of

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

from the

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

. Mac-Avoy studied in Switzerland where he received his baccalauréat. His artistic talent caused a brief hesitation between theatre and painting, but having chosen the latter, he entered the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

at the age of 18 and studied there with Paul Albert Laurens. In Paris, he frequented the house of

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as '. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

and met Bonnard and Vuillard who showed an interest in his work.

Career

Mac-Avoy sold his first painting to the government when he was only 19 years old. It was exhibited at the

Musée du Luxembourg The () is a museum at 19 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' Medici cycle by Peter Paul Rubens) an ...

. He then branched out into landscapes, urban scenes and portraits, before devoting himself almost exclusively to the latter genre. At the

Salon des Tuileries The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painters Albert Besnard and Bessie Davidson, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others. The first year's ...

, in 1936, he exhibited only portraits in a style so distinctive and discordant to current fashions that he was compared to a

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Duchy of Brabant, Brabant-born French people, French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French art, French school. He was a founding member of the Académie royale de pein ...

. In 1939, he married Anne Coquebert de Neuville, with whom he had three children. When the Second World War broke out, he was mobilized and joined the 5th Division of Motorized Infantry. Mac-Avoy received the

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

and his experience of war is said to have influenced his style. Mac-Avoy made portraits of many writers, artists and politicians including

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

Pierre Larousse Pierre Athanase Larousse (; 23 October 18173 January 1875) was a French grammarian, lexicographer and encyclopaedist. He published many of the outstanding educational and reference works of 19th-century France, including the 15-volume . Early ...

, Honegger, Mauriac,

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

Béjart Béjart is the name of several French actors of the 17th century. Family The four actors listed here were children, and grandchildren, of Marie Hérve and Joseph Béjart (died 1643), the holder of a small government post. There were 10 children ...

, and

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

and

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

A friend of

Henry de Montherlant Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Biography Born in Paris, a descendant of ...

, he illustrated several of that writer's luxury editions including ''La relève du Matin'' in 1952, '' La Ville dont le prince est un enfant'' in 1961 and ''Les Garçons'' in 1973. Mac-Avoy's Paris studio was located at 102, , in the 6th arrondissement. For a time he was a teacher at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...

Prizes and distinctions

* 1963: Grand Prix des peintres témoins de leur temps * Président du Salon d'automne de Paris (succeeds

Yves Brayer Yves Brayer (18 November 1907 – 29 May 1990) was a French painter known for his paintings of everyday life. He was born in Versailles (city), Versailles. He studied in Paris at the academies in Montparnasse starting in 1924, and then at the É ...

) * 1989: Prix Ève Delacroix * Officier

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

* Officier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Students

* . * Diane Esmond

Sources

Bibliography

* Edouard Mac'Avoy, ''Le plus clair de mon temps : 1926-1987'', Paris, Ramsay, 1988 , Prix Ève Delacroix of the Académie française.Prix Ève-Delacroix
on the site of the Académie française * Hackley Art Museum, ''Mac Avoy'', Muskegon, Hackley Art Museum, 1985 * Rodolphe Pailliez, ''Mac Avoy'', Paris, Éditions de Nesle, 1979 * Galerie Motte, ''Mac'Avoy'', Geneva, Galerie Motte, 1958