Cornelius Ary Renan (1857–1900) was a French Symbolist painter and anti-clerical social activist.

Career

Renan was the son of the Breton scholar

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote in ...

, who pioneered modern secular study of the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. His mother was the daughter of painter

Hendrik Scheffer Hendrik Scheffer (The Hague, 25 September 1798 – Paris, 15 March 1862) was a Dutch painter in the Romantic tradition who lived in France for most of his life. In France he is usually known as Henri Scheffer. Personal life Scheffer was the yo ...

and the niece of painter

Ary Scheffer Ary Scheffer (10 February 179515 June 1858) was a Dutch-French Romantic painter. He was known mostly for his works based on literature, with paintings based on the works of Dante, Goethe, and Lord Byron, as well as religious subjects. He was al ...

, after whom he was named. Renan followed his grandfather and great-uncle into a career as an artist, becoming associated with the

Symbolist movement Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...

. He studied with Elie Delaunay and

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beau ...

(a one time student of his grandfather). He also became a close friend 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.'' ...

. Ary Renan travelled widely, to Asia and Algeria, while having a physical disability. He also spent a lot of time in Brittany. He exhibited work from 1880. His works are influenced by his travels and by Symbolist poetry. The

Musée de la Vie Romantique The Musée de la Vie romantique (Museum of Romantic Life, or ''Museum of the Romantics'') stands at the foot of Montmartre hill in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, 16 rue Chaptal, Paris, France in an 1830 ''hôtel particulier'' facing two twin-stu ...

in Paris holds a significant number of his works. His Symbolist masterwork ''The Diver – The Coral Fisherman'' dating to 1882, was purchased by the

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collect ...

in Ohio in 2014.

Political activity

Renan followed his father as a leader of the secularist movement in Brittany. He co-founded the organisation ''Bretons de Paris'', along with

Armand Dayot Armand Dayot, (19 October 1851 – 2 October 1934), was a French art critic, art historian and leftist politician. He was born in Paimpol, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany. He founded the journal ''L'Art et les artistes'' and the Breton liberal organisat ...

. It evolved into the Ligue des bleus de Bretagne which grew in Brittany from dissatisfaction with the conservative and clerical bias of the existing

Breton Regionalist Union The Breton regionalist union (Union Régionaliste Bretonne or URB) was a Breton cultural and political organisation created August 16, 1898. It was a broadly conservative grouping dedicated to preserving Breton cultural identity and regional indep ...

, founded a few months earlier. However, Renan died shortly after its foundation.Loic Thomas, "Armand Dayot et la ligue des bleus de Bretagne", ''Colloque - les Bleus de Bretagne de la revolution a nos jours'', Archives departmental de Saint-Brieuc, 1990, pp. 351-62

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renan, Ary 1857 births 1900 deaths Painters from Paris 19th-century French painters French male painters French Symbolist painters Bleus de Bretagne members Artists with disabilities 19th-century French male artists