Alexandre Georges Henri Regnault (31 October 1843 – 19 January 1871) was a French painter.

Biography

Regnault was born in Paris, the son of Henri Victor Regnault. On leaving school he successively entered the studios of Antoine Montfort, Louis Lamothe and Alexandre Cabanel, was beaten for the '' Prix de Rome'' (1863) by

Joseph Layraud Joseph Fortuné Séraphin Layraud (15 October 1834 – 12 October 1912) was a French painter. There is no complete clearance as to the birth' and the death' dates. Some sources refer to 1833–1913. His range included historical scenes and figures ...

and Xaiver Monchablon, and in 1864 exhibited two unremarkable portraits at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

. In 1866, however, he carried off the ''Prix de Rome'' with a work of unusual force and distinction '' Thetis bringing the Arms forged by Vulcan to Achilles'' (School of the Fine Arts). The past in Italy did not touch him, but his illustrations to Wey's ''Rome'' show how observant he was of actual life and manners; even his ''Automedon'' (School of Fine Arts), executed in obedience to Academical regulations, was but a lively recollection of a carnival horse-race. At Rome, moreover, Regnault came into contact with the modern Hispano-Italian school, a school highly materialistic and inclined to regard even the human subject only as one amongst many sources of visual amusement. The vital, if narrow, energy of this school told on Regnault with ever-increasing force during the few remaining years of his life. In 1868 he had sent to the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

a life-size portrait of a lady in which he had made one of the first attempts to render the actual character of fashionable modern life. While making a tour in Spain, he saw General Juan Prim pass at the head of his troops, and received that lively image of a military demagogue which he afterwards put on canvas, somewhat to the displeasure of his subject. But this work made an appeal to the imagination of the public, whilst all the later productions of Regnault were addressed exclusively to the eye. After a further trip to North Africa, abridged by the necessities of his position as a pensioner of the school of Rome, he painted ''Judith'', then, in 1870, '' Salomé'', and, as a work due from the Roman school, dispatched from Tangier the large canvas, ''Execution Without Hearing Under the Moorish Kings'', in which the painter had played with the blood of the victim as if he were a jeweller toying with rubies. The Franco-Prussian War arose, and found Regnault foremost in the devoted ranks of the Battle of Buzenval, where he fell on 19 January 1871.Collister, Peter (1992). "A 'Legendary Hue': Henri Regnault and the Fiction of Henry James and Mrs Humphry Ward," ''The Modern Language Review,'' Vol. 87, No. 4, p. 827. His friend, the composer

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

dedicated his ''Marche héroïque'' (1871) to Regnault's memory. The sculptor

Henri Chapu Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work. Life and career Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...

erected a monument to him in the courtyard of the École des Beaux-Arts in 1872. Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier painted him in the centre of his ''Le siège de Paris'' as the soldier collapsed against the personification of Paris.

Gallery

Thetis apporte a Achille les armes forgees par Vulcain 1866 Henri Regnault.jpg, '' Thetis bringing the Arms forged by Vulcan to Achilles'' (1866),

Beaux-Arts de Paris The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Sciences ...

Automedon.jpg, '' Automedon with the Horses of Achilles'' (1868),

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

Regnault, Henri, Salomé.jpg, '' Salomé'' (1870), Metropolitan Museum of Art Henri regnault maures grena.jpg, ''Execution Without Hearing Under the Moorish Kings'' (1870),

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * Gotlieb, M. (2016). ''The Deaths of Henri Regnault''. University of Chicago Press.

External links