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, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...

, who pioneered modern secular study of the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. His mother was the daughter of painter Hendrik Scheffer and the niece of painter Ary Scheffer, after whom he was named. Renan followed his grandfather and great-uncle into a career as an artist, becoming associated with the Symbolist movement. 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 Beaux-Ar ...

(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 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 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. 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, 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 French artists with disabilities 19th-century French male artists Anti-clericals