Henry Le Jeune
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Henry Le Jeune (12 December 1819 – 5 October 1904) was an English painter of landscapes, genre, literary and biblical scenes. He became well known for his genre paintings of children.


Life

Henry Le Jeune was born in London, the son of Anthony Le Jeune, a professional musician of Flemish origin, and the third of five children. After showing an early interest in art he was encouraged by his family to study the art collections in the British Museum. In 1834, Le Jeune was admitted to the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
where, after winning 4 silver medals in succession, he won a gold medal in 1841 for the biblical painting "Samson Bursting his Bonds" (exhibited the following year at the
British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...
). He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840 with a work entitled "Joseph Interpreting the Dream of Pharaoh's Chief Butler". From 1845-48 he taught at the Government School of design at
Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
, and from 1848-64 was curator and instructor at the Royal Academy. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1863 and an honorary retired associate in 1886.


Family

Le Jeune married Dorothy Lewis (1815–1864) on 21 June 1844 and had five sons and three daughters. He lived in London all his life, dying in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
in 1904. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.


Work

Le Jeune painted in both oils and watercolours. His works were exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1840–94, at the
British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...
between 1842–63, and at other galleries. Early in his career he painted mainly biblical or literary scenes ( Shakespeare or Spenser). These included such titles as "The infancy of Moses" (1842), "Prospero and Miranda" (1844), "Ruth and Boaz (1845), "The Sermon on the mount" (1845) and "The liberation of the slaves" (1847 - which was purchased by
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...
). From the 1850s, he became well known as a genre painter. In this category belong works such as "Little Red Riding Hood" (1863), "Early sorrow" (1869), "Little Bo Peep" (1873 and 1881), "Much ado about nothing" (1873) and many others. Le Jeune has painting in several art galleries in the United Kingdom including those in Wolverhampton and Liverpool.


Notes


Further reading

* Graves, Algernon.
The Royal Academy of Arts; a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904
' (Royal Academy of Arts, 1905). pp 34–35.


External links


Works by Henri Lejeune
(Art Renewal Center Museum)
Biography of Henry Lejeune
("In Spirit Antiques")

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Jeune, Henry 1819 births 1904 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters British genre painters English watercolourists English landscape artists Religious artists Associates of the Royal Academy 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists