Jean-Jacques Henner

Jean-Jacques Henner (5 March 1829 – 23 July 1905) was a French painter, noted for his use of sfumato and chiaroscuro in painting nudes, religious subjects and portraits.

Biography

Henner was born at Bernwiller (Alsace). He began his studies in art as a pupil of Michel Martin Drolling and François-Édouard Picot. In 1848, he entered the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and took the Prix de Rome with a painting of ''Adam and Eve finding the Body of Abel'' in 1858. In Rome, he was guided by Flandrin, and painted four pictures for the gallery at Colmar among other works.

He first exhibited ''Bather Asleep'' at the Salon in 1863 and subsequently contributed ''Chaste Susanna'' (1865), now in the Musée d'Orsay. Other noted works include: ''Byblis turned into a Spring'' (1867); ''The Magdalene'' (1878); ''Portrait of M. Hayem'' (1878); ''Christ Entombed'' (1879); '' Saint Jerome'' (1881); '' Bara'' (1882); '' Herodias'' (1887); ''A Study'' (1891); ''Christ in His Shroud'' and a ''Portrait of Carolus-Duran'' (1896); a ''Portrait of Mlle Fouquier'' (1897); and ''The Dream'' (1900).

''The Levite of the Tribe of Ephraim'' (1898) was awarded a first-class medal. Among other professional distinctions, Henner also took a Grand Prix for painting at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1873, Officer in 1878, and Commander in 1889. In 1889, he succeeded Cabanel in the Institut de France. Henner's most widely known work is his 1885 painting of Saint Fabiola. Although the original is now lost, it was copied by artists around the world for devotional purposes. Artist Francis Alÿs has collected over 500 copies of the painting in a variety of media. The collection is known as the "Fabiola Project".

Henner died at age 76 in Paris.

Pupils

Henner had numerous pupils; among them were the American painter Mathilde Mueden Leisenring and the Romanian artist Dimitrie Serafim. From 1874 to 1889 he taught at "the studio of the ladies", organized with Carolus-Duran, at a time when women were not allowed entry to the École des Beaux-Arts. Some of these students also served as his models. One of these was Dorothy Tennant, who later married Henry Morton Stanley. w:fr:Jean-Jacques Henner Another was Laura Leroux-Revault, daughter of his close friend Hector Leroux; Henner's full-length portrait of Laura Leroux now at the Musée d'Orsay was shown at the Paris Salon of 1898 and purchased by the French State.

Another pupil was Elizabeth Snowden Nichols Watrous (1858–1921), later the wife of artist Harry Watrous. Henner gave the couple a painting when they were married in 1887."Elizabeth Watrous, Painter, is Dead,"
''American Art News'', Vol. 20, No. 2 (Oct. 22, 1921), p. 6.

Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) also worked as one of his models.

Bibliography

* E Bricon, ''Psychologie d'art'' (Paris, 1900); C Phillips, ''Art Journal'' (1888)
* Frederick Wedmore, ''Magazine of Art'' (1888).
* Isabelle de Lannoy, ''Catalogue raisonne Jean-Jacques Henner 1829-1905'' 008

Gallery

Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Reclining Nude.jpg, ''Reclining Nude'',
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Image:1869 Jean-Jacques Henner - Woman on a black divan.jpg, '' Woman on a Black Divan'',
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mulhouse
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - La liseuse.jpg, ''La liseuse'',
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Nus féminins.jpg, ''Nus féminins''
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Jesus at the Tomb.jpg, ''Jésus au tombeau''
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Jules Janssen Orsay.jpg, '' Jules Janssen''
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris
Image:Jean Jacques Henner Portrait D-Homme.jpg, ''Portrait d'homme''
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Portrait of a Young Girl with a Bow in Her Hair.jpg, ''Portrait of a Young Girl with a Bow in Her Hair'', private collection
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Alsatian Girl.jpg, ''Alsatian Girl'',
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Image:Fabiola - Jean Jacques Henner.png, '' Saint Fabiola''
copy of lost original
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Study Of A Woman In Red.jpg, ''Study of a Woman in Red'', The Hermitage,
St. Petersburg, Russia
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - A Red haired Beauty.jpg, ''A Red-Haired Beauty'',
private collection
Image:Brooklyn Museum - Head of a Girl - Jean Jacques Henner.jpg, ''Head of a Girl'' - Brooklyn Museum
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - The Chaste Susannah.jpg, ''The Chaste Susannah''
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris
Image:Jean Jacques Henner le reveil de l enfant.jpg, ''Le réveil de l'enfant''
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
Image:Jean Jacques Henner - Solitude.jpg, ''Penitent Magdalene'',
private collection - Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, California
Image:Idylle-Jean-Jacques Henner-Orsay.jpg, ''Idylle''
Musée d'Orsay,
Paris

See also

* Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henner, Jean-Jacques
1829 births
1905 deaths
19th-century French painters
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
Academic art
French male painters
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
Painters from Alsace
Artists from Haut-Rhin
Prix de Rome for painting
French portrait painters
19th-century French male artists