Jean-Baptiste Édouard Detaille (; 5 October 1848 – 23 December 1912) was a French

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

painter and

military art Military art is art with a military subject matter, regardless of its style or medium. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate ...

ist noted for his precision and realistic detail. He was regarded as the "semi-official artist of the French army".

Biography

Education and early career

Detaille was born in Paris and grew up in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

. His was a prosperous military family; his grandfather had been an arms supplier for Napoleon. An amateur artist who was friends with a number of collectors and painters, including

Horace Vernet Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (; 30 June 178917 January 1863) more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. Biography Early career Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famo ...

, Detaille's father encouraged his son's artistic endeavors. He began his artistic studies at age seventeen under the famous military painter

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (; 21 February 181531 January 1891) was a French Academic art, academic painter and sculpture, sculptor. He became famous for his depictions of Napoleon I of France, Napoleon and his military sieges and :wikt:manoeuv ...

; he had originally approached him to ask for an introduction to the renowned

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French Painting, painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the Academic art, academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. He was Napoleon ...

but Meissonier decided to teach Detaille himself. Meissonier became a major influence on his style, and it was he who inculcated an appreciation for accuracy and precision in Detaille. Detaille made his debut as an artist at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

—the official art exhibition of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

—of 1867 with a painting of Meissonier's studio. At the Salon of 1868, he exhibited his first military painting, ''The Drummers Halt'', which was based solely on his imagination of the French Revolution. With ''Repose During the Drill, Camp St Maur'', which he debuted the following year, Detaille established his reputation as a painter. In the spring of 1870, he went on a "sketching trip" to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

with three other young painters, Étienne-Prosper Berne-Bellecour, Alexander Louis Leloir, and

Jehan Georges Vibert Jehan Georges Vibert or Jean Georges Vibert (30 September 1840 – 28 July 1902) was a French academic painter. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of engraver and publisher Théodore Vibert, and grandson of the influential rose-breeder J ...

Franco-Prussian War

Detaille enlisted in the 8th Mobile Bataillon of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

when the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

broke out in 1870; by November he was seeing and experiencing the realities of war. This experience allowed him to produce his famed

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s of soldiers and historically accurate depictions of military manoeuvres,

uniforms A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency ser ...

, and military life in general. He eventually became the official painter of the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

s. He published a book called ''L'Armée Française'' in 1885, which contains over 300 line drawings and 20 color reproductions of his works. Detaille was one of the first artists to buy photographs from

Eugène Atget Eugène Atget (; 12 February 1857 – 4 August 1927) was a French ''flâneur'' and a pioneer of documentary photography, noted for his determination to document all of the architecture and street scenes of Paris before their disappearance to mod ...

Later life

In 1912, Detaille created new uniforms for the French army. They were never adopted by the

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, but the blue-gray greatcoats would influence later French

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

uniforms, and the Adrian helmet was heavily influenced by his designs. During his life, he had amassed an impressive collection of military uniforms and artifacts. He bequeathed the collection to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris following his death in 1912 in Paris.

Literary references

Detaille appears as a guest at a party at the home of the Princesse de Guermante in Part Two: Chapter One of

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

's novel '' Cities of the Plain'', where Detaille is referred to as "the creator of the ''Dream''", his 1888 painting also known as '' Le Rêve'' which shows soldiers asleep on a battlefield dreaming of military glory. The painting, which is in the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

in Paris, also appears in ''Paintings in Proust'' by Eric Karpeles, published by

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, ...

Family

His niece married Charles Otzenberger, who subsequently called himself Otzenberger-Detaille.

Gallery

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Detaille, Edouard 1848 births 1912 deaths Painters from Paris Academic art 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French war artists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French war artists French Army soldiers French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Members of the Ligue de la patrie française Honorary members of the Royal Academy Honorary Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order 19th-century French male artists