Jean-Georges Cornélius (23 January 1880,

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

- 3 June 1963,

Ploubazlanec Ploubazlanec (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. Historically its economy relied on fishing. Fishermen in the 19th century and early 20th century went to Iceland aboard sailing ships called '' ...

) was a French painter and illustrator.

Life

Cornélius spent his childhood in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

but his family moved to Paris in 1895. There he became a student of

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism ...

, then of

Luc-Olivier Merson Luc-Olivier Merson (21 May 1846 - 13 November 1920) was a French academic painter and illustrator. He was also known for his postage stamp and currency designs. Biography Born Nicolas Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris, France, he grew up in an arti ...

and

George Desvallières George Desvallières (; 1861–1950) was a French painter. A native of Paris, Desvallières was a great-grandson of academician Gabriel-Marie Legouvé, and received a religion, religious upbringing. He studied at the Académie Julian with Tony ...

. He also met his wife there, the American Auria Moses, whom he married in 1917. Having volunteered in 1914, Cornélius became a nurse in a combat unit, where he served as a stretcher-bearer. He was wounded twice during the fighting and lost one of his eyes. This conflict would leave a lasting mark on him, and his style began exhibiting the influences of

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

and

German Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

. In 1929, he met

Georges Bernanos Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as d ...

, who became a very close friend. He lived at times in Belgium, the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

and Paris, frequently returning to the Breton property in Ploubazlanec that he bought in 1923. At Bernanos's suggestion, he moved his family to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1947, then to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, before returning permanently to Brittany. His last exhibition was held in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

in 1956.

Works

Cornélius produced work that was both mystical and allegorical. Between 1905 and 1913, he produced a large number of medieval-inspired illustrations for magazines and two books, including "La Chanson de Roland" in 1912. He also illustrated the poems of

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...

and

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

. He defined himself as a Christian artist who "must not impress art critics but touch the passerby according to the good formula of the Middle Ages. Bring religious feeling and thought within the reach of the simplest in spirit and never show vanity. We need an interior art that acts spiritually towards everyone." Though raised a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1931 at the Benedictine abbey of Maredsous in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Forty-eight paintings and six drawings by Cornélius were donated by the artist's daughter the dancer Marie-Edith Cornélius to the Eucharistic Museum of Hiéron in 2007, following a monographic exhibition of the painter. Some of his works are on display in the museum. Today his works are held by a dozen museums around France. The

Musée de la Révolution française The Musée de la Révolution française (Museum of the French Revolution) is a departments of France, departmental museum in the French town of Vizille, south of Grenoble on the Route Napoléon. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to the ...

houses his painting ''Marie-Antoinette'' and other work is held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (; in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French. Pont-Aven absorbed the former commune of Nizon in 1954, which had ...

, the :fr: Musée du Faouët. and museums in Brest,

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

, Péronne,

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

, and

Illustrations

*Georges Ducrocq, ''Les matins lumineux'', Compositions de Georges Cornélius gravées sur bois par J.C.G.M. Beltrand, Bibliothèque de l'Occident, Avignon, 1909 *''

The Song of Roland The ''Song of Roland'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French li ...

'' illustrations by J.-G. Cornélius, Henri Laurens Publisher, Paris, 1912 *

, ''

The Ballad of Reading Gaol ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand and Naples, after his release from Reading Gaol () on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecenc ...

'', Javal and Bourdeaux, Paris, 1927, compositions engraved on copper in color by Ch. Thévenin *

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

, ''

Les fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; ) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First published in 1857, it was important in the ...

'', Paris, Éditions Colbert, 1951

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius, Jean-Georges 1880 births 1963 deaths People from Strasbourg French painters Converts to Catholicism Breton artists Catholic painters

Life

Works

Illustrations

Further reading

References