Émile Munier (2 June 1840 – 29 June 1895) was a French

academic art Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie ...

ist and student of

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

Biography

Émile Munier was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

on 2 June 1840 and lived with his family at 66 rue des Fossés, St. Marcel. His father, Pierre François Munier, was an artist

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at the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins and his mother, Marie Louise Carpentier, was a polisher in a cashmere cloth mill. Émile and his two brothers, François and Florimond, were talented artists and each spent some time at the Gobelins. At the factory Abel Lucas trained Munier as a draughtsman and he developed a close relationship with Lucas and his family, eventually marrying Lucas' daughter, Henriette, in 1861. In 1867, Henriette gave birth to a son, Emile Henri. Six weeks after the birth, having contracted severe rheumatism, Henriette died prematurely. Sargine Augrand, a student of Lucas and a close friend of Émile and Henriette (before she died), caught Émile's eye; they married in 1872 and lived in a small apartment and studio. The couple had one child, a daughter, Marie-Louise, born in 1874.

Career

During the 1860s, Munier received three medals at the Beaux-Arts and in 1869 he exhibited at the Paris Salon. He became a great supporter of the Academic ideals and a follower of Bouguereau, whose subject matter would be an important inspiration to the young Munier. Bouguereau's quality of work and composition are reflected in Munier's artworks. The pair became close friends and Munier frequently visited Bougereau's studio; the latter used the nicknames "La sagesse" or "Le sage Munier" when referring to Munier. The glass designer

Émile Gallé Émile Gallé (8 May 1846 in Nancy – 23 September 1904 in Nancy) was a French artist and designer who worked in glass, and is considered to be one of the major innovators in the French Art Nouveau movement. He was noted for his designs of ...

was another artist Munier was known to work with from around 1869. Munier ceased work at the tapestry factory in 1871 and devoted his time solely to painting; he also began teaching classes to adults three nights a week.

Leland Stanford, Jr. Leland Stanford Jr. (May 14, 1868 – March 13, 1884), known as Leland DeWitt Stanford until he was nine, was the only son of American industrialist and politician Leland Stanford and his wife Jane Stanford, Jane. Following his death from typhoid ...

, the only child of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Leland Stanford of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and his wife

Jane Stanford Jane Elizabeth Lathrop Stanford (August 25, 1828 – February 28, 1905) was an American philanthropist, co-founder of Stanford University in 1885 (opened 1891) along with her husband, Leland Stanford, as a memorial to their only child, Leland ...

, died aged fifteen in 1884, and during that year Munier was commissioned by Jane Stanford to immortalise their son by way of a painting. The oil on canvas entitled ''Angel comforting his grieving mother'' shows the boy with his hand on his mother's shoulder returning to earth as an angel to comfort her. Today, in the 21st century, the painting forms part of a display in the Cantor Centre for the Visual Arts at Stanford University. In 1885 he painted, and exhibited at the Paris Salon, ''Trois Amis'' (''Three Friends''). This painting, representing a chubby girl playing on her bed with a kitten and a dog, was an extremely successful work, being reproduced in many forms and used for publicity posters by

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. With this work, Emile asserted himself as one of 'the' painters of young children and their pets; it was eventually acquired by an American collector. Among his many American patrons were

Chapman H. Hyams Chapman Henry Hyams, Sr. (21 July 1838, in Charleston – 19 April 1923, in New York) was an American stockbroker, art collector, and philanthropist. Family On April 26, 1893, Hyams' son, Chapman Henry Hyams, Jr. married Violet Victoria Hildreth. ...

and his wife, who were important collectors of contemporary French paintings during the nineteenth century and favoured artists like

Henner Henner is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Christal Henner, American bridge player * Jean-Jacques Henner (1829–1905), French painter * Marilu Henner (born 1952), American actress and producer * Mi ...

, Bouguereau, Gérôme, Vinel and

Schreyer Schreyer is a surname of German origin. Notable people with the surname include: * A. M. Schreyer (died 1919), American daredevil cyclist and athlete * Adolf Schreyer (1828–1899), German painter *Cindy Schreyer (born 1963), American golfer * Dirk ...

. Munier painted their portrait in 1889, and it, along with much of their collection, is now in the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...

. During the 1890s Munier continued to paint peasant, mythological and religious subjects; he also portrayed animals, scenes depicting fishing, landscapes and seascapes. Many of his works featured his children as his models, particularly his daughter. In 1893 he exhibited ''L'esprit de la chute d'eau'', at the Paris Salon, a nude nymph which is not unlike ''Naissance de Vénus'' by Bouguereau. In 1895 Munier painted ''La jeune fille et le panier de chatons'', but on 29 June, a few weeks after his 55th birthday, he died. File:Émile Munier, 1874 - La leçon de tricot.jpg, ''A Special Moment'', 1874 File:Émile Munier, 1873 - Le retour du marché.jpg, ''Back from the Market'', 1873 File:Émile Munier - Head of a Young Girl.jpg, ''Head of a Young Girl'', 1874 File:Returning from the Garden (1875), by Émile Munier.jpg, ''Girl with a Basket of Plums'', 1875 File:Émile Munier, 1881 - May I?.jpg, ''May I?'', 1881 File:Émile Munier, 1882 - Petite fille & chat.jpg, ''Young Girl and Cat'', 1882 File:Émile Munier, 1890 - The Cherry Tree.jpg, ''The Cherry Tree'', 1890 File:Émile Munier, 1891 - Jesus.jpg, ''Jesus'', 1891 File:Émile Munier, 1893 - Playing with the kitten.jpg, ''Playing with the Kitten'', 1893 File:Émile Munier, 1879 - A happy family.jpg, ''A Happy Family'', 1879 File:Émile Munier, 1874 - Favourite Kitten.jpg, ''Favourite Kitten'', 1874 File:Morning Prayer, by Émile Munier.jpg, ''Morning Prayer'', 1888 File:Instruction, by Émile Munier.jpg, ''Reading Lesson'', 1888 File:Émile Munier, 1890 - Feeding the Doves.jpg, ''Feeding the Doves'', 1890 File:Émile Munier, 1888 - Pardon Mama.jpg, ''Pardon Mama'', 1888

References

Citations Bibliography *

External links

Emile Munier – Catalogue Raisonné project

Émile Munier at the Art Renewal Center

Munier Gallery at MuseumSyndicate

Munier's Girls and Cats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munier, Emile 1840 births 1895 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters Academic art 19th-century French male artists