Léopold-Henri Girardet (21 September 1848,

Brienz Brienz ( , , ) is a village and municipality on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, and in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienz, the municipality includes the sett ...

- 10 December 1917,

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

) was a French-Swiss painter, sculptor, engraver, and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

Life and work

He was born to a family of artists; which included his father, Edouard, and his uncles

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and

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. His brothers, Pierre (1850–1884), Robert (1851–1900) and Max (1857–1927), also became painters of some note. In 1857, when he was only nine, his family moved to Paris. His initial lessons in drawing came from his father. Much of his career would be spent providing illustrations for the publisher and art dealer,

Adolphe Goupil ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...

; especially for his journal, ''Le Magasin Pittoresque''. Although he was based in Paris, he spent most of his time travelling; throughout France, Italy and North Africa. After 1874, he was a regular participant in exhibitions at 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 ...

. In 1887, financial considerations forced him to return to Switzerland. At first, he lived in Brienz, then moved to Neuchâtel. In addition to

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

paintings, he created portrait busts and medallions.

Sources

* "Girardet, Henri (Léopold-Henri)". In: Ulrich Thieme, Fred. C. Willis (Eds.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol.14: Giddens–Gress. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1921, pp. 165–166
Online
* René Burnand: ''L’étonnante histoire des Girardet. Artistes suisses.'' La Baconnière, Neuchâtel 1940, S. 299. * René Burnand: ''Les Girardet au Locle et dans le monde''. La Baconnière, Neuchâtel 1957. *

External links

More works by Girardet
@ ArtNet * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girardet, Henri 1848 births 1917 deaths Swiss painters Swiss engravers Swiss sculptors Genre painters People from Graubünden