Édouard Debat-Ponsan (25 April 1847 – 29 January 1913) was a French academic painter noted for his allegorical works, scenes of peasant life and Orientalist works.

Biography

Debat-Ponsan was born in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. His younger brother was organist and composer Georges Debat-Ponsan, best known for his organ work ''Scherzo Symphonique''. A pupil of Cabanel, he was famous for his portraits of wealthy citizens and politicians in Paris, paintings of ancient history and scenes of peasant life. As a Republican and veteran of the War of 1870, Debat-Ponsan engaged in the struggle for rehabilitation of Captain

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

, he exhibited his allegorical painting ''Vérité sortant du puits'' (''Truth coming out of the well'') at the 1898 Salon, later offered to

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

. In 1877 he travelled to Italy thanks to a sum of 4,000 francs which was granted to him by the academy. There he saw different forms of painting, after which he began to paint portraits. In 1882–1883 he made a trip to Istanbul accompanied by his two brothers-in-law, Jules-Arsène Garnier and Henri-Eugène Delacroix (not to be confused with

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...

). This trip inspired one of his most celebrated works, ''Le Massage, Scène de Hammam'' (''The Massage at the Hamman''; 1883) now in the

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 rep ...

in Toulouse. He was father of the architect and Grand Prix de Rome winner in 1912, Jacques Debat-Ponsan, and grandfather of

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...

, who became Prime Minister under General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

and was one of the drafters of the Fifth Republic. Other descendants include the politician

Jean-Louis Debré Jean-Louis Debré (; 30 September 1944 – 4 March 2025) was a French judge and politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007 and President of the Constitutional Council from 2007 to 2016.

. His daughter Jeanne Debat-Ponsan married

Robert Debré Robert Debré (7 December 1882 – 29 April 1978) was a French physician (pediatrician) at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. The largest pediatric hospital in Paris, the Robert-Debré Hospital - located in the North-East part of Paris ...

founder of modern pediatrics in France (see

Debré family The Debré family is a French family including several prominent politicians and physicians. The family's ancestor, rabbi Simon Debré, was born in Westhoffen, Alsace. His ancestors came from Harburg, Bavaria''Regards sur la culture judéo-alsacienn ...

). Debat-Ponsan died in Paris on 29 January 1913.

Work

His scenes of rural life, a very fashionable genre around 1830–1840, hesitate between the idealism of the peasant world and the militant realism of a

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

. The painting ''One morning at the gates of the Louvre'' may have political overtones. It depicts

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

(in black) calmly viewing the bodies of victims of the 1572

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre The Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre () in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed ...

. Debat-Ponsan may have actually intended to refer to more recent events in French history, such as the bloody suppression of the

Commune of Paris The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended Par ...

, nine years before this painting was made. File:Debat-Ponsan-matin-Louvre.jpg, ''One morning at the gates of the Louvre'', 1880 File:Truth Leaving the Well.gif, ''Truth coming out of the well'', 1898 File:Edouard Debat-Ponsan Rast am Feld 1901.jpg, ''Resting in the Field'', 1901 File:Édouard Debat-Ponsan-La gitane a la toilette.jpg, ''La gitane a la toilette'' File:Edouard Debat-Ponsan Weinernte.jpg, ''The grape harvest'' Select list of paintings * ''Le récit de Philetas'' (now lost) * ''La Captivité des Juifs à Babylone '' (now lost) * ''Daniel Dans la fosse aux lions'' (Cathedral of Mirande) * ''Au sortir de la carrière'', (Toulouse, collection) * ''Panorama de la bataille de Montretout'', 1881 (in collaboration with Jules-Arsène Garnier and Henry-Eugène Delacroix) * ''Panorama de Constantinople'', 1883 (in collaboration with Jules-Arsène Garnier and Henry-Eugène Delacroix) * ''Massage: Scène de Hammam '', 1883 (Toulouse, Musée des Augustins) * ''Coin de vigne'', 1886 (Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts) * ''La Gitane à la toilette'', 1896 * ''La Vérité sortant du puits'', 1898 (Amboise, Musée Hôtel Morin).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Debat-Ponsan, Edouard 1847 births 1913 deaths 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Artists from Toulouse Painters from Occitania (administrative region) French male painters French Orientalist painters 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Work

See also

References

External links