Armand Point (23 March 1860"Point, Armand." ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford Art Online'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Retrieved 20 June 2014. or 23 March 1861"Point, Armand." Colette E. Bidon, ''Grove Art on Line, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 June 2014. – February 1932 or March 1932) was a French painter, engraver and designer who was associated with the Symbolist movement and was one of the founders of the

Salon de la Rose + Croix 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 (Pa ...

. Later he formed his own ''atelier''. Sources differ over the details of his birth and death.

Personal life

Point was born in Algiers, and died in either

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, or

Marlotte Bourron-Marlotte () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. In the second half of the 19th century, it was visited by several impressionist painters including Alfred Sisley, Pierre-August ...

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne (river), Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square ...

Early career

Point's earliest works were orientalist scenes of markets and musicians and the street life of his youth in Algeria. In 1888 he travelled to Paris where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Auguste Herst and

Fernand Cormon Fernand Cormon (24 December 1845 – 20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France. Biograph ...

. He was linked to Numa Gillet. From 1890 he exhibited 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 ...

Move towards Idealism

Point was influenced by Ruskin and the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

and was a member of the first

Nabis Nabis ( grc-gre, Νάβις) was the last king of independent Sparta. He was probably a member of the Heracleidae, and he ruled from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the eponymous "War against Nabis" ...

group. In 1894 he made a trip to Italy with Hélène Linder (1867-1955) (later Mme Berthelot) where he saw Sandro Botticelli's '' Primavera'' for the first time outside of an engraving. The experience made a deep impression on him and he wrote that his eyes "first opened up" on seeing it, leading soon after to attempts to establish a movement in France to resurrect the art of the 15th and 16th centuries. The influence of Botticelli and

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

became evident in his work, for instance in the c. 1895 ''Eternal Chimera''. Hélène Linder became an ideal female model for Point who often painted her in a Leonardesque style but dressed like a muse from Botticelli. Leonardo da Vinci's ''Study for the head of Leda'' (study for an original painting now lost) seems to have influenced the hair styles that he gave Hélène. Hélène married French diplomat

Philippe Berthelot Philippe Berthelot (October 9, 1866 – November 22, 1934) was an important French diplomat, son of Marcellin Berthelot and Sophie Berthelot. He was a republican (as opposed to monarchists and the far-right leagues at the time). Born in Sèv ...

just before the start of the First World War.

Philippe Jullian Philippe Jullian (real name: ''Philippe Simounet''; 11 July 1919 – 25 September 1977) was a French illustrator, art historian, biographer, aesthete, novelist and dandy. Early life Jullian was born in Bordeaux in 1919. His maternal grandfather ...

described Point as moving, at this time, from a "dreamy realism to a detailed idealism". Augustins - La promenade du jeudi dans les champs, 1888 Armand Point Inv. 50 3 1.jpg, ''Thursday's walk in the fields'' 1888

Musée des Augustins The Musée des Augustins de Toulouse is a fine arts museum in Toulouse, France which conserves a collection of sculpture and paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The paintings are from throughout France, the sculptures represe ...

Toulouse Ame d’Automne (Autumn Soul) by Armand Point.jpg, ''Ame d’Automne'' (Autumn Soul). Pastel on brown paper, c. 1890s. Model probably Hélène Linder.Âme d’Automne (Autumn Soul)
Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014
Archived here.
/ref> Armand Point 1893.jpg, Hélène Linder in an 1893 drawing by Point. Armand Point 1895 drawing of Madame Berthelot.jpg, ''A Portrait of Madame Berthelot.'' Charcoal and coloured chalks, 1895. Private collection. Woman with cherry blossom Armand Point.jpg, Woman with cherry blossom, undated.

Symbolism

Soon, Point was moving towards fully fledged Symbolism. He made a determined effort to reject the modern world and the realism of

Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...

and Courbet. He adopted

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

and became a friend of "Sâr" Peladan.

Edward Lucie-Smith John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...

described him as a "medievalizing painter ... whose style mingled the influence of

Moreau Moreau may refer to: People *Moreau (surname) Places *Moreau, New York *Moreau River (disambiguation) Music *An alternate name for the band Cousteau, used for the album ''Nova Scotia'' in the United States for legal reasons In fiction *Dr. Mo ...

with that of the Pre-Raphaelites".Lucie-Smith, Edward. (1972) ''Symbolist Art''. London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, p. 115. From 1892 to 1896, Point exhibited at the Salon de la Rose+Croix and with Léonard Sarluis he designed the poster for the fifth salon of that group. It depicted the Ideal in the form of

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

holding the severed head of Émile Zola in reference to the Greek myth in which Perseus decapitated the

Gorgon A Gorgon (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. W ...

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

. For the Symbolists, Zola exemplified in literature the oppressive Naturalism they rejected. Subjects at this time were usually mythological, such as his 1897 ''The Siren'' which included a typical Symbolist ''

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

'' figure luring men to their doom. Also in 1897, Point contributed an original

lithograph 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 ...

titled the ''

Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

'' (Fr. ''Légende dorée'') to the ''

L'Estampe Moderne ''L'Estampe Moderne'' appeared in 1897-1899 as a series of 24 monthly fascicles, each of 4 original lithographs, priced at 3 francs 50 centimes and printed by Imprimerie Champenois of Paris. Many accomplished European Art Nouveau painters contri ...

''. The journal included four original prints in each issue and Point's was issued in Number 5, September 1897. Other artists who contributed included Alphonse Mucha,

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithography, lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodo ...

and

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman Hun ...

Atelier de Haute-Claire

From 1896 to 1901 Point lived in

, where he founded the Atelier de Haute-Claire not far from the home of the Barbizon school. Around the turn of the century, the distinction between the

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

and

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

was beginning to break down and Point became increasingly interested in the latter. He sought to emulate

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

in revolting against nineteenth-century materialism and produced applied art, including furniture, jewellery, fabrics, ceramics and wallpaper that harked back to the techniques and styles of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Everything was hand-made to a very high standard of craftmanship in an effort to avoid the alienating effect of industrial mass production. As a result, however, the products of the ''atelier'' were luxury items that could only be purchased by an elite and the project therefore failed to meet one of its key objectives. The Symbolist journal ''L'Ermitage'' criticised the works of the Haute-Claire group for amounting to religious icons fit only for reverence in a case in a museum and having little to do with the France of today. One such ornate object was the ''Coffret d'Ophélie'' (Ophelia Box), a box in the form of a medieval reliquary, that referred to the

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in ...

of Shakespeare much celebrated by the Pre-Raphelites. The box included

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

, cabochon, champlevé enamelling, cloisonné,

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

, gold and other expensive materials and techniques.''La colonie d'Haute-Claire: artisanat et nostalgie''
L’Histoire par l’image, 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014. A number of similar boxes exist from the ''atelier'', including an alternative Ophelia box (1903) and a ''Coffret aux serpents'' (1897–99), both in the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

. The number of different materials and processes involved in making each box meant that production was complex and a number of different craftsmen were required to make each one, for instance, noted ceramicist

Charles Virion Charles Louis Eugène Virion ( Ajaccio, 1 December 1865"VIRION, Charles Louis Eugène." ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 June 2014. - Montigny-sur-Loing, 30 December 1946) was a noted Fr ...

. Philippe Jullian described the products of the ''atelier'' as more Neo-Byzantine than ''

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

''.Jullian, Philippe. (1973) ''The Symbolists''. Translated by Mary Anne Stevens. London:

Phaidon Press Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional off ...

, p. 234. A diverse group of people visited Haute-Claire, including

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

just months before his death in 1900. Wilde was in exile in France following imprisonment in Britain.

Early and orientalist works

File:Armand Point-La Joie des choses-Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy.jpg, ''La Joie des choses''. 1884. File:Market Street by Armand Point.jpg, ''Market Street''. An Algerian orientalist work by Point. File:At the water's edge by Armand Point.jpg, ''At the Water's Edge''. File:Arab Weaver by Armand Point 1886.jpg, ''Arab Weaver''. 1886.

Symbolist works

File:The Eternal Chimera by Armand Point pastel c. 1895.jpg, ''Eternal Chimera''. Lead pencil and pastel, c. 1895. File:Armand Point (1861-1932).jpg, ''Golden legend''. (Fr. ''Légende dorée'') Lithograph, 1897. File:Armand Point - The Siren, 1897.jpg, ''The Siren''. 1897. File:PointArmandDanceOftheSevenVeils.jpg, ''Dance of Salome''. Oil on canvas, 1898.

Later works

File:Egyptian Goddess Armand Point 1909.jpg, Portrait of an Egyptian goddess, probably

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

. Watercolour, 1909. File:Armand Point - Bust of a Maiden in a Landscape - Walters 372801.jpg, Bust of a woman in a landscape. Pencil on paper, 1910.

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

, Baltimore. File:Armand Point The Judgement of Paris c. 1910.jpg, ''The Judgement of Paris''. Oil on canvas, 1910 or 1911. Armand Point ''Le jugement de Pâris''
Musée d'Orsay, 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014. File:Armand Point, Apollo And Daphne, 1919.jpg, ''

Apollo and Daphne Apollo and Daphne is a transformation myth from ancient Greek mythology, retold by Hellenistic and Roman authors in the form of an amorous vignette. History The earliest known source of this myth is Parthenius, a Greek poet who lived during th ...

''. Oil on canvas, 1919.

References

External links

Armand Point and Islamic Architecture
MyLearning.org
Armand Point nudes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Point, Armand 1932 deaths People from Algiers French Symbolist painters 1860 births Year of birth uncertain Rosicrucians French portrait painters 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists 19th-century French male artists