Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (18 October 1850 – 16 March 1913) was a French painter and illustrator best known for his

watercolours Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

for

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. He was a major figure in nineteenth-century children's book illustration.

Early life and education

Boutet de Monvel was born in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and His maternal grandfather was the tenor

Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit (3 March 1802 – 8 March 1839) was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini and Giacomo ...

(1802–1839), and there were other artists in the family. He lived mainly in Paris as a child. He began attending the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts 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 Scienc ...

in early 1870. During the Franco-Prussian War, he served in the French army. With the return of peace, he began attending the Académie Julian, where he worked with

Gustave Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (25 April 1824 – 22 September 1888) was a French figurative painter and academic artist and teacher known for his Classical and Orientalist subjects. Education and career The Néo-Grecs and the Prix de Rom ...

and Jules Lefèbvre, both major influences on his early work. He also worked with Carolus-Duran.

Paintings

In 1873 he exhibited for the first time at the Salon, showing a painting entitled ''Temptation''. He won a bronze medal in 1878 for ''The Good Samaritan'' and a silver medal in 1880 for ''The Lesson Before the Sabbath''. Three trips to Algeria (1876, 1878, 1880) had a strong influence on his style as he responded to the quality of the light. He became a

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

painter and his palette shifted towards orange and blue as its base colors. In the Paris salon of 1880, he showed one of his Algerian paintings, ''On the High Plateaus''. In 1885, he exhibited ''The Rabble's Apotheosis, or the Triumph of

Robert Macaire Robert Macaire is a fictional character, an unscrupulous swindler, who appears in a number of French plays, films, and other works of art. In French culture he represents an archetypal villain. He was principally the creation of an actor, Frédér ...

'' at an exhibition organized by the Society of French Artists. However, the painting's royalist theme so angered Edmond Turquet, then the Deputy Secretary of State for Fine Art, that it was removed just before the private viewing and moved to the premises of the newspaper ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

''. He was an early member of the Society of French Watercolourists, which had recently been founded by

Édouard Detaille Jean-Baptiste Édouard Detaille (; 5 October 1848 – 23 December 1912) was a French academic painter and military artist noted for his precision and realistic detail. He was regarded as the "semi-official artist of the French army". Biogra ...

. One of the first watercolours he sent to their exhibition was a portrait of a young woman in Renaissance clothing; its great success opened the door for a career as a portrait painter. His skill at capturing the moods of children gained him many commissions from upper middle class parents. He received so many commissions for portraits that at one time he contemplated giving up book illustration (see below). Jeanne D Arc Boutet de Monvel 12

Illustrations

In 1876, he married Jeanne Labaigue of Orléans, and their first child was born three years later. Their son

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

would become a writer, and their son

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

would become a painter. The need to support his family pushed him into commercial illustration. In 1881, he illustrated a children's reader, and this opened further commissions to illustrate children's books. He also began contributing illustrations to the children's magazine '' St. Nicholas'', continuing until 1890. In 1895 he published an illustrated children's history of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

that has been regarded as his masterpiece. The epic scenes for ''Joan of Arc'' show the influence of two late-medieval painters:

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...

in the use of modeling and

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian (Florentine) painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual perspective in art. In his book ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, S ...

in the composition of battle scenes. Drawn with a strong line and clear, harmonious colors, his illustrations drew critical praise even though he himself was disappointed in the quality of the reproductions, which had been done by zincotype, a then-new photoengraving process. As one critic put it:

Boutet de Monvel's full-page illustrations have a nobility and grandeur akin to the great church frescoes of the Renaissance. Their pleasingly flat rendering combined with a sophisticated use of design elements...owe a debt to the Japanese prints so popular in the artist's day.

''Joan of Arc'' was a huge success and brought him international recognition. In 1899, he participated in an exhibition organized by members of the

Viennese Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

that focused on graphic art. That same year his work was shown in the United States at venues such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

in Philadelphia. He went to Chicago for that exhibition but fell ill with a recurrence of a bronchial ailment contracted during the Franco-Prussian war. Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel

At the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

of 1900, he received a gold medal for a panel entitled ''Joan at the Court of Chinon'' that was part of a commission for a new basilica in Donrémy. It was one of a set of five panels, but the other four were never finished, though a smaller-scale version was completed for senator

William A. Clark William Andrews Clark Sr. (January 8, 1839March 2, 1925) was an American politician and entrepreneur, involved with mining, banking, and railroads. Biography Clark was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He moved with his family to Iowa in 1 ...

, who donated it to the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

in Washington. He died in

Nemours Nemours () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Geography Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c. south of Melun, on the Moret–Lyon railway. Nemours – Saint-Pierre ...

in 1913. Not long afterwards, the Manzi et Joyant Gallery organised a retrospective of his work in Paris. Further retrospectives have followed, and a large traveling show was organized in the United States in 1987-88. Some of his work is held by museums. Boutet de Monvel is still considered a master of the children's illustration genre for the originality of his work. His style has been praised for its lack of unnecessary detail, and it has been noted that his images provide "a revelation of a subject which the writer has treated only in a fragmentary and superficial manner." He has been ranked alongside Kate Greenaway and

Randolph Caldecott Randolph Caldecott (; 22 March 1846 – 12 February 1886) was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honour. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were pro ...

as a leading figure of the 19th century's golden era of children's book illustration.

Selected books illustrated by de Monvel

*''Vielles chansons et rondes pour les petits enfants'' (Old Songs and Rounds for Little Children, 1883) *''Chansons de France pour les petits français'' (Songs of France for French Children 1884) *''Quand j'étais petit'' by Lucien Briart (When I Was Young, 1886) *'' La Farce de maître Pathelin'' (The Farce of Master Pathelin, 1887) *''Nos enfants, scènes de la ville et des champs'' by

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

(Our Children: Scenes from the Country and the Town, 1887) *''Fables de

La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his '' Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Eu ...

'' (Fables of La Fontaine, 1888) *''Xavière'' by

Ferdinand Fabre Portrait by Jean-Paul Laurens Ferdinand Simon Fabre (9 June 1827 – 11 February 1898) was a French novelist whose novels depict the life of the peasants and clergy of his native region, the upper valley of the river Orb, in the département ...

(1890) *''Jeanne d'Arc'' (Joan of Arc, 1895)

In popular culture

Boutet de Monvel was a mentor of the Dutch illustrator

Henriette Willebeek le Mair Henriette Willebeek LeMair (April 23, 1889 in Rotterdam – March 15, 1966) was a Dutch illustrator of children's books. Career The French illustrator Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel was an important influence on Le Mair's artistic development. ...

, who studied with him informally over a number of years. In ''

A Moveable Feast ''A Moveable Feast'' is a 1964 memoir ''belles-lettres'' by American author Ernest Hemingway about his years as a struggling expat journalist and writer in Paris during the 1920s. It was published posthumously. The book details Hemingway's fir ...

'',

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

mentions Boutet de Monvel's Joan of Arc Illustrations, likening Alice B. Toklas' hair to that of Joan of Arc's hair.

Gallery

References

External links

* *
''Pierre Bonnard, the Graphic Art''
an exhibition catalog from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boutet de Monvel, Louis-Maurice 1851 births 1913 deaths Artists from Orléans 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century male artists French children's book illustrators