Henry Lerolle (3 October 1848 – 22 April 1929) was a French painter, art collector and patron, born in Paris. He studied at
Académie Suisse
The Académie Suisse was a very popular, informal, art school founded by Martin François Suisse (1781–1859)From Filae.com, 23 juin 2021
Source: Registres journaliers d'inhumation des cimetières parisiens
Les documents d'origine sont consult ...
and in the studio of
Louis Lamothe
Louis Lamothe (1822–1869) was a French academic artist born in Lyon. He is remembered today primarily as the teacher of several more renowned artists, notably Edgar Degas, Elie Delaunay, Henry Lerolle, Henri Regnault, and James Tissot.
Lam ...
.
His work was exhibited at the
Paris Salon in 1868, 1885, and 1895. In 1889 Lerolle painted the murals ''The Crowning of Science'' and ''The Teaching of Science'' in 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 ...
. He painted ''Flight into Egypt'' in the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
, and also did works in
Schola Cantorum (the establishment of which he was involved), and the church of St. Martin des Champs, both in Paris. Lerolle was made a Chevalier,
Légion d'honneur
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 ...
in 1889.
Lerolle's paintings are in the collections of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the
Musée d'Orsay and the
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...
.
Patronage
Lerolle owned several canvases by
Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...
including ''Catholic Mystery'', and is considered to be Denis's first important patron. In fact, Denis claimed that Lerolle "discovered him." In 1892 Lerolle commissioned Denis to paint a ceiling mural for his home entitled "L'Echelle dans le Feuillage" ("Ladder in the Foliage"). Additionally, Lerolle was a friend and patron to
Degas
Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings.
Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...
and
Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...
, the latter of whom painted several portraits of Lerolle's daughters and of Lerolle himself. Lerolle also owned works by
Fantin-Latour (who painted Lerolle's wife, Madeleine Escudier),
Corot
CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...
,
Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
, and others.
Madame Lerolle's sister, Jeanne, was married to the composer
Ernest Chausson
Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.
Life
Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of ...
and the Lerolle home, at 20, avenue Duquesne was a meeting place not only for artists, but also musicians of the day including
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
,
Claude Debussy and
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...
. Having met via Lerolle, Chausson also commissioned works by Maurice Denis. Lerolle was also a violinist and composer.
Debussy dedicated several piano works to Lerolle's daughter Yvonne (b. 1877) including three ''Images'' in 1894.
[Smith, Richard Langham. ''Debussy Studies''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.] Yvonne Lerolle was a friend to
Julie Manet
Julie Manet (14 November 1878 – 14 July 1966) was a French painter, model, diarist, and art collector.
Biography
Born in Paris, Manet was the daughter and only child of artist Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet, younger brother of painter Édouar ...
, daughter of the painter
Berthe Morisot.
See also
*
Les Nabis
Notes
References
*Groom, Gloria Lynn, Nicholas Watkins, Jennifer Paoletti, and Therese Barruel. ''Beyond the Easel: Decorative Paintings by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Roussel, 1890-1930''. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000.
*Kellogg, D. O., T. Spencer Baynes, and W. Robertson Smith. ''The Encyclopædia Britannica; Latest Edition. A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature''. New York: Werner, 1902.
*Manet, Julie, Rosalind de Boland Roberts, and Jane Roberts. ''Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet''. London: Sotheby's Publications, 1987.
Lerolle." The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, Inc., 2002.
External links to works by Lerolle
''The Organ Rehearsal'' at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.''By the Riverside'' at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston*[http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/resultat-collection.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bzoom%5D=0&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BxmlId%5D=078181&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bback%5D=en%2Fcollections%2Findex-of-works%2Fresultat-collection.html%3Fno_cache%3D1%26zsz%3D9 ''Après le bain'' at Musée d'Orsay]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerolle, Henry
1848 births
1929 deaths
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
University of Paris people
19th-century French painters
French male painters
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
Painters from Paris
French art collectors
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
19th-century French male artists