Henri Gervex (

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929 Paris) was a French painter who studied painting under

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...

Pierre-Nicolas Brisset Pierre-Nicolas Brisset (18 August 1810 – 29 March 1890) was a French painter and muralist in the Academic style. He is best known for his mythological, historical and religious scenes, but also painted landscapes and portraits. Biography He w ...

, and

Eugène Fromentin Eugène Fromentin (24 October 182027 August 1876) was a French painter and writer, now better remembered for his writings. Life He was born in La Rochelle. After leaving school he studied for some years under Louis Cabat, the landscape painter. ...

Biography

Early years

Henri Gervex Portrait Mlle Valtesse de la Bigne

He was the son of Joséphine Peltier and Félix Nicolas Gervex, a piano maker. When he was 15, a friend of the family helped him get admitted to the atelier of Pierre-Nicolas Brisset. Three years later, he served in the 152nd Battalion of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

. In 1871 he was accepted into the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

in the studio of Alexandre Cabanel, where he studied for five years along with

Jean-Louis Forain Jean-Louis Forain (23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was mo ...

Fernand Cormon Fernand Cormon (24 December 1845 – 20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France. Biograph ...

, and Eugène Damas, a landscape painter. He also apprenticed himself to the Orientalist painter

Debut

His early work belonged almost exclusively to the

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

genre, which served as an excuse for the painting of the nude, but not always in the best of taste. His ''Rolla'' of 1878, based on a poem by

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

, was rejected by the jury of the

Salon de Paris 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 ...

for immorality, since it depicted a scene from the poem of a naked prostitute after having sex with her client. However, the censorship only made Gervex's painting even more famous, and launched the career of Gervex, then age 26. Although banned from the Salon, ''Rolla'' was exhibited in a nearby private gallery and became, according to the book ''Famous Pictures Reproduced from Renowned Paintings By the World's Greatest Artists'', "probably the most successful private exhibition made in Paris." The book also called ''Rolla'' "a masterpiece, one of the few real great works on modern art." Gervex was one of many lovers entertained by the famous courtesan

Valtesse de La Bigne Émilie-Louise Delabigne, known as countess Valtesse de La Bigne (1848, in Paris – 29 July 1910, in Ville-d'Avray) was a French courtesan and demi-mondaine. Though born to a working-class family in Paris, she rose through the social ranks and ...

. Their relationship was long and deep, with Gervex including the golden haired beauty in his piece of art called ''The Civil Marriage'' of 1881; here Valtesse De la Bigne is dressed from head to toe in blue, her favourite colour, standing beside a dark haired man with a moustache. Another painting of La Bigne inspired

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

in the creation of his heroine for the novel ''

Nana Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana ( ...

'', and Gervex himself was the model for the character of an opportunistic painter who appears in Zola's novel ''

L'Œuvre ''L'Œuvre'' is the fourteenth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by Émile Zola. It was first serialized in the periodical ''Gil Blas'' beginning in December 1885 before being published in novel form by Charpentier in 1886. The title, t ...

'' (''The Work f Art', 1886). Gervex afterwards devoted himself to representations of modern life and achieved signal success with his ''Dr Péan at the Salpétrière'' ("The Operation"), a modernized paraphrase, as it were, of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

's ''Anatomy Lesson''.

Career

Henri Gervex - A Session of the Painting Jury - Google Art Project

He was entrusted with several important official paintings and the decoration of public buildings. Among the first are ''The Distribution of Awards'' (1889) at the ''Palais de l'Industrie'', ''The Coronation of Nicolas II'', ''The Mayors' Banquet'' (1900), and the portrait group ''La République Française''; and among the second, the ceiling for the Salle des Fêtes (ballroom) at the

Hôtel de Ville, Paris The Hôtel de Ville (, ''City Hall'') is the city hall of Paris, France, standing on the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville – Esplanade de la Libération in the 4th arrondissement. The south wing was originally constructed by François I beginning i ...

, and the decorative panels painted in conjunction with Emile-Henri Blanchon for the mairie of the

19th arrondissement The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, i ...

, Paris. For this work, Gervex received the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

. He also painted, with Alfred Stevens, a panorama, ''The History of the Century'' (1889). The

Musée du Luxembourg The Musée du Luxembourg () is a museum at 19 rue de Vaugirard 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' M ...

holds his painting ''Satyr Sporting with a Bacchante'', as well as the large ''Members of the Jury of the Salon'' (1885). Other pictures of importance, besides numerous portraits in oils and pastel, are ''

The Birth of Venus ''The Birth of Venus'' ( it, Nascita di Venere ) is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea ...

,'' ''Communion at Trinity Church'', ''Return from the Ball'', ''Diana and Endymion'', ''Job'', ''Civil Marriage'', ''At the Ambassadeurs'', ''Yachting in the Archipelago'', ''Nana'', and ''Maternity''.RKD
/ref> While traveling in Russia in 1893, he was commissioned by

Czar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

to paint his coronation and individual portraits of the royal family. In 1913 he was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. His house and studio at 68 rue de Chavreau in Paris, which he built in the 1890s to give him the space to create large-scale works including his commissions for Nicholas II, was later purchased by dancer

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

Works

La_femme_au_Masque_by_Henri_Gervex_1885_-_22_year_old_Parisienne_model_Marie_Renard_wearing_only_a_Domino_masque_

File:Henri Gervex Cafe Scene in Paris 1877.jpg, ''Café Scene in Paris'', 1877 File:Gervex Cinq Heures Chez Paquin.jpg, Cinq Heures Chez Paquin File:Une soirée au Pré Catelan - Henri Gervex.jpg, A soirée File:Henri Gervex - Armenonville, le soir du Grand-Prix - P2709 - Musée Carnavalet.jpg, Un soir de grand prix au pavillon d'Armenonville File:The Birth of Venus (Gervex).jpg, The Birth of Venus (1907) File:Henri Gervex - Portrait of the Couturier Madame Paquin.jpg, Portrait of the Couturier Madame Paquin File:Henri Gervex - portrait of Colette Gervex.jpg, Portrait of Colette Gervex, daughter of Henri Gervex File:Henri Gervex - Colette's First Steps.jpg, Colette's First Steps File:Henri Gervex - Fillette dans un champ de coquelicots.jpg, Fillette dans un champ de coquelicots

Students

Jacques-Émile Blanche Jacques-Émile Blanche (; 1 January 1861 – 30 September 1942) was a French artist, largely self-taught, who became a successful portrait painter, working in London and Paris. Early life Blanche was born in Paris. His father, whose name he s ...

(1861-1942) * Georges Dubosc (1854-1927) *

Henry Gerbault Henri Gerbault, Henry Gerbault, or Jean Louis Armand Henri Gerbault (24 June 1863 - 19 October 1930) was a French illustrator, water color painter, and poster artist. He was born in Châtenay, Paris, France and was the nephew of the poet Su ...

(1863-1930)

Notes

References

External links

Works of Henri Gervex on Musée d'Orsay

Henri Gervex on Base Mistral/Joconde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gervex, Henri Members of the Académie des beaux-arts 1852 births 1929 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Academic art Painters from Paris Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French male artists