Pierre Henri Vaillant (30 January 1878, in

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 ...

– 8 May 1939, in

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

) was a French painter and engraver. He specialized in

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 and portraits.

Biography

His father, Charles Émile Vaillant, was the Departmental Architect for

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.École des beaux-arts de Paris 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 Sciences ...

, where his primary instructors were

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ran ...

and

Marcel Baschet Marcel-André Baschet (5 August 1862 – 28 December 1941) was a French portrait painter, notable for his numerous portraits of the Presidents of the French Third Republic. Biography He was born in Gagny (Seine-et-Oise), the second son of the ...

. After leaving school, he began painting in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, where he became friends with

Charles Cottet Charles Cottet (12 July 1863 – 20 September 1925) was a French painter, born at Le Puy-en-Velay and died in Paris. A famed post-impressionist, Cottet is known for his dark, evocative painting of rural Brittany and seascapes. He led a scho ...

, who had a significant influence on his style. His favorite place to paint was in

Camaret-sur-Mer Camaret-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department in northwestern France, located at the end of Crozon peninsula. Sights Camaret-sur-Mer is home to the ''Tour Vauban'' or ''Tour dorée'' (lit. "Golden Tower"), a historic fortificati ...

, and the Pardon Ceremony was one of his favorite subjects. In 1905, he had his first solo exhibition at the

Salon des artistes français 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 ...

, and was a frequent exhibitor there until 1914, when he was conscripted into the Army. Throughout his service, he continued to sketch and was part of several campaigns at the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. During one of these, he was wounded in the forehead and gassed, which had a permanent effect on his health; limiting his ability to spend long periods painting on location. At the end of the war, he held the rank of Lieutenant and was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. In 1919, he married Élisabeth Froc and they had four children. In 1921, he began exhibiting again, at the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Es ...

. He soon became a member of the Société and, in 1930, was appointed to their governing committee, replacing

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 ...

, who had resigned. From 1923 to 1928, he created decorations for the . Those works, depicting daily life in

Beauce Beauce may refer to: * Beauce, France, a natural region in northern France * Beaucé, a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, France * Beauce, Quebec, an historical and cultural region of Canada ** Beauce (electoral district), a fed ...

, were destroyed during repairs and renovations in the 1970s. He opened a workshop in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

, where he produced nudes and portraits. In 1930, he became a Professor at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

, replacing

Lucien Simon Lucien Joseph Simon (1861 – 1945) was a French painter and teacher born in Paris. Early life and education Simon was born in Paris. After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from ...

. From that time on, he devoted himself almost entirely to educational activities. One of his most notable students was the Hungarian-Indian painter,

Amrita Sher-Gil Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ear ...

. He was named a Knight in the

Legion of Honor 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 1937. In 2016, a major retrospective of his works was organized by his daughter, Dominique, and held in

La Bazoche-Gouet La Bazoche-Gouet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure-et-Loir department The following is a list of the 365 communes of the Eure-et-Loir department of France. The comm ...

."Les œuvres de Pierre Vaillant exposées", by Obrecht Odile
Online
in ''L'Écho Republicain''

References

Biographical notes
@ the ''

Benezit Dictionary of Artists The ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists'' (in French, ''Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs'') is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers created ...

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaillant, Pierre Henri 19th-century French painters French genre painters French portrait painters Painters from Paris 1878 births 1939 deaths 20th-century French painters