Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, educator and theorist.

Early life

Lefebvre was born in

Tournan-en-Brie Tournan-en-Brie (, literally ''Tournan in Brie''), or simply Tournan, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the Paris metropolitan area. History In the fourteenth cen ...

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 ...

, on 14 March 1836. He entered the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

in 1852 and was a pupil of

Léon Cogniet Léon Cogniet (29 August 1794 – 20 November 1880) was a French history and portrait painter. He is probably best remembered as a teacher, with more than one hundred notable students. Biography He was born in Paris. His father was a painter ...

Career

He won the prestigious

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1861. Between 1855 and 1898, he exhibited 72 portraits in the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

. Many of his paintings are single figures of beautiful women. Among his best portraits were those of M. L. Reynaud and the Prince Imperial (1874). In 1891, he became a member of the French

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. He was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in Paris. Lefebvre is chiefly important as an excellent and sympathetic teacher who numbered many Americans among his 1500 or more pupils. Among his famous students were

Fernand Khnopff Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff (12 September 1858 – 12 November 1921) was a Belgian symbolist painter. Life Youth and training Fernand Khnopff was born to a wealthy family that was part of the high bourgeoisie for generations. Khnopf ...

Kenyon Cox Kenyon Cox (October 27, 1856 – March 17, 1919) was an American Painting, painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of t ...

,Oxford Art Online, "Lefebvre, Jules"

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as . He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

Ernst Friedrich von Liphart Baron Ernst Friedrich von Liphart (1847–1932), Russified as Ernst Karlovich Lipgart and also referred to in English as Earnest Lipgart, was a painter, a noted art expert and art collector from what is now Tartu in Estonia. After living for a t ...

Georges Rochegrosse Georges Antoine Rochegrosse (; 2 August 1859 – 7 November 1938) was a French historical and decorative painter. Life and career He was born in Versailles and studied in Paris with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Bo ...

, the Scottish-born landscape painter William Hart,

Walter Lofthouse Dean Walter Lofthouse Dean (June 4, 1854 – March 13, 1912) was an American marine painter, commodore of the Boston Yacht Club and Vice President of the Boston Art Club. While Dean is primarily known for marine paintings from the Boston, Massachuse ...

, and Edmund C. Tarbell, who became an

American Impressionist American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose b ...

painter. Another pupil was the miniaturist

Alice Beckington Alice Beckington (July 30, 1868 – January 4, 1942) was an American painter. Born in St. Charles, Missouri, Beckington studied art at the Art Students League of New York, where she was a pupil of J. Carroll Beckwith; she also studied for a mo ...

Jules Benoit-Lévy Jules Benoit-Lévy (27 February 1866 – 14 March 1952) was a French painter and printmaker. Biography Benoit-Lévy was born in Paris. He was the son of Baruch Benoit-Lévy (1821–1884) and Julie Strasburger (1826–1901). At the Paris Sc ...

entered his workshop at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Sépulture de Jules LEFEBVRE - Cimetière de Montmartre

Lefebvre died in Paris on 24 February 1911 and was buried in the

Montmartre Cemetery The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis ...

with a bas-relief depiction of his painting ''La Vérité'' on his grave.

Significant milestones

*1853 Student at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

*1859 Second place

*1861 His ''Death of Priam'' wins the Prix de Rome *1870

professor *1870

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, Officer, named Commander from 1898 *1891 Member of the

Selected works

*1861 ''The Death of Priam'' (won the

, Paris *1861 ''Diva Vittoria Colonna'' *1863 ''Boy Painting a Tragic Mask'' *1864 ''Roman Charity'' *1865 ''Portrait d'Antonio, modèle italien'' *1866 ''Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi'' *1868 ''Reclining Nude'',

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 ...

*1869 ''Le Réveil de Diane'' *1869 ''Portrait of Alexandre Dumas'' *1870 ''La Vérité'' (The Truth) (1870), oil on canvas,

, Paris. The painting is contemporary with the first small scale model made by Lefebvre's fellow-Frenchman

Frédéric Bartholdi Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to: In artistry: * Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator * Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor * Frédéric Bazille, Impress ...

for what became the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

, striking a similar pose, though fully clothed. *1870s ''Jeune femme à la mandoline'' (Girl with a Mandolin) *1870 ''Portrait du Prince Impérial'' *1872 ''Pandora'' *1872 ''La Cigale'',

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

(Exhibited Salon, Paris, 1872, no. 970; collection of Milton Latham (1827–82), San Francisco, before 1878; by whom sold, New York, 1879; collection of Daniel Catlin, St Louis, Missouri, 1879–1893; by whom gifted to the St Louis Museum of Fine Arts, 1893–1945; deaccessioned and sold, c. 1945; collection of Julian Sterling, Melbourne, by 1984–2005; from whom purchased for the Felton Bequest, 2005.) *1874 ''Odalisque'' *1874 ''Slave Carrying Fruit'' (Ghent Museum) *1874 ''Portrait of Eugène Louis Napoléon Bonaparte'' *1875 ''Chloé'', Young and Jackson Hotel,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

*1876 ''Mary Magdalene in the Cave'',

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...

, Saint Petersburg *1877 ''Pandora'' *1878 ''Mignon'',

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York *1878 ''Graziella'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York *1879 ''Diana'' *1879 ''Diana Surprised'', Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires *1880 ''Portrait of Julia Foster Ward'', Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL *1880 ''Housemaid'',

Pera Museum Pera Museum ( Turkish: ''Pera Müzesi'') is an art museum in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey, at Meşrutiyet Avenue No. 65 (adjacent to İstiklal Avenue and in close proximity to Taksim Square.) It has ...

, Istanbul *1881 ''La Fiametta'' from

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...

*1881,
Ondine
', Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest *1882 ''Pandora'' (II) *1882 ''Japonaise'' (A Japanese woman) *1883 ''Psyché'' *1884 ''The Feathered Fan'' *1884 ''Portrait of Edna Barger'', private collection *1890 ''Lady Godiva'' *1890 ''Ophelia'' *1892 ''A Daughter of Eve'' *1892 ''Judith'' *1896 ''Portrait of a Lady'' (II) *1898 ''Amor beim Schärfen seiner Pfeile'' (Love sharpening its arrows) *1901 ''Alexander Agassiz'' *1901 ''Yvonne'' (formerly Musée du Luxembourg), Portrait of Lefebvre's daughter File:Clemence Isaure.jpg, ''Clémence Isaure'' File:1879_Jules_Joseph_Lefebvre_-_Diana_surprised.jpg, ''Diana Surprised'', 1879 File:Lady_godiva_full.jpg, ''

Lady Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'', 1891 File:La_Vérité,_par_Jules_Joseph_Lefebvre.jpg, ''La Vérité'', 1870 File:Jules Lefèvre Vittoria Colonna.jpg, ''Vittoria Colonna'', 1861

Undated works

* ''Clémence Isaure'' * ''La Fiancée'' * ''Woman with an Orange'' * ''Nymph with Morning Glory Flowers'' * ''Fleurs des Champs'' * ''L'Amour Blessé'' (Wounded Love) * ''Mediterranean Beauty'' * ''Portrait of a Lady'' * ''Portrait of a Woman'' * ''Young Woman with Morning Glories in Her Hair''

References

External links

TheARTwerx – Lefebvre Gallery
Comprehensive archive of 141 images
Jules-Joseph-Lefebvre.org
42 images by Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Art Renewal Centre – Lefebvre GalleryJules Joseph Lefebvre
paintingiant.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Jules Joseph 1836 births 1911 deaths People from Tournan-en-Brie 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Academic art Académie Julian faculty Prix de Rome for painting Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Burials at Montmartre Cemetery 19th-century French male artists