Mathurin Méheut (21 May 1882 – 22 February 1958) was a French painter, ceramist, engraver, and etcher best known for his depictions of Breton scenes, the sea, and nature. Méheut was born into a family of artisans in

Lamballe Lamballe (; ; Gallo: ''Lanball'') is a town and a former commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Lamballe-Armor. It lies on the river Gouessant east ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, and apprenticed to a house painter before entering the École des Beaux-Arts de Rennes in 1898, from which he graduated at age 20. He then attended the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, working for the revue Arts et Décoration to finance his studies. In 1906 he exhibited with the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

. From 1910 to 1912 Méheut collaborated with naturalists at the

Roscoff Roscoff ( , ; ) is a commune in the Finistère département of Brittany in northwestern France. Roscoff is renowned for its picturesque architecture, labelled (small town of character) since 2009. Roscoff is also a traditional departure point ...

marine biology station to depict marine life. This period culminated in a book (''Etude de la mer, flore et faune de la Manche et de l’Océan'') and 450 works exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1913. In 1914 he was awarded a travel scholarship by the Foundation Albert Kahn for visits to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1914, but his trip was cut short by

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 ...

. In 1921 Méheut became the French Ministry of Defence's official painter and in 1925 began decorating commercial passenger ships, including the

SS Normandie SS ''Normandie'' was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line ''Compagnie Générale Transatlantique'' (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, transatlantic crossing, ...

. Between world wars, he illustrated books for authors including

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

, Maurice Genevoix, and

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Ele ...

, and created ceramics at Henriot in

Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...

, at the

Manufacture nationale de Sèvres The ''Manufacture nationale de Sèvres'' () is one of the principal European porcelain factories. It is located in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It is the continuation of Vincennes porcelain, founded in 1740, which moved to Sèvres in 1756. ...

, and at

Villeroy & Boch Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a French-German manufacturer of ceramics, with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Saarland. History The company began in the tiny Lorraine village of Audun le Tiche, where the iron master François Boch set ...

in Sarre. During the 1940s he taught at the École des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, served as decorator for the Institut de Géologie de Rennes, and completed his celebrated illustrations of Florian Le Roy's '. The Musée Mathurin Méheut in Lamballe, created in 1972, preserves his work.

References

* Denise Delouche, Anne de Stoop, Patrick Le Tie, ''Mathurin Méheut'', Chasse-Marée, 2004. . * Patrick Jude, Elisabeth Jude, Hélène Jude, ', Ouest-France, 2004. .
Lamballe Tourisme biography
*

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meheut, Mathurin 1882 births 1958 deaths People from Lamballe 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French painters of animals 20th-century French illustrators French draughtsmen École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni French male painters 20th-century French engravers French etchers 20th-century etchers Peintres de la Marine Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery 20th-century French ceramists