Charles Auguste Mengin (5 July 1853 – 3 April 1933), was a French academic painter and sculptor. He is known for his painting of the Greek poet

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

, made in 1877, now in the collection of the Manchester Art Gallery, in England.

Early life and education

Mengin was born on 5 July 1853 in Paris to Auguste Charles Victor Mengin, a sculptor who died in 1894 in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

.Archives de Paris
Death certificate No.4029, 14th arrondissement, 6 November 1894] He was educated in both painting and sculpture by Gecker, Alexandre Cabanel, Paul Baudry, and sculptor

Aimé Millet Aimé Millet (September 28, 1819 – January 14, 1891) was a noted French sculptor, who was born and died in Paris. Millet was the son of miniaturist Frédéric Millet (1796–1859) and uncle to Chicago architectural decorator Julian Louis Mi ...

, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Career

Mengin mainly painted mythical scenes and portraits. He owes his place in art history mainly to his painting ''

'' (1877), which can be seen in the Manchester Art Gallery. Sappho is one of the paintings presented by Umberto Eco in his book ''The History of Beauty'' as exemplary of 'romantic beauty'.On Beauty: A History of a Western Idea by Umberto Eco, Amsterdam, 2005, blz. 298-299

Exhibitions

He first exhibited in 1876 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 ...

together with his twin brother, Paul Eugène Mengin (1853-1937). He continued his exhibitions at salons of the '' Société des Artistes Français'' until 1927. He won a gold medal at the

1900 World's Fair The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

Death

Mengin died in Paris in 1933.

Gallery

Notes

References

External links

''Sappho'' painting at the Manchester Art Gallery

Charles August Mengin :: Biography and Image Gallery at ArtMagick
at www.artmagick.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mengin, Charles 1853 births 1933 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists 19th-century French male artists