Ernest Joseph Laurent (June 8, 1859 – June 25, 1929) was a French painter and printmaker. He was born in Gentilly and died in Bièvres, Essonne. Laurent was a

neo-impressionist Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginn ...

artist whose main influences were his instructor

Ernest Hébert Antoine Auguste Ernest Hébert (; 3 November 1817 – 5 December 1908) was a French academic painter. Biography Hébert was born in Grenoble, son of a notary in Grenoble, and moved in 1835 to Paris to study law. He simultaneously took ar ...

and his friend

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , ; ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough ...

. Laurent took second prize in the

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 1889 and in 1890, Laurent arrived in Rome, where Hébert remained Director of the Académie de France. From Rome, he went to

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

where he underwent a mystical experience. It would profoundly influence his art. The work he returned to Paris from Assisi was noted for its religious themes. Over time, profound religious devotion influenced his artistic motif and religious symbolism and scenery crept into his work. This aspect of his life ran counter to Seurat's materialism and the two parted ways. Laurent is buried in

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurent, Ernest Joseph 1859 births 1929 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Prix de Rome for painting 19th-century French male artists

See also

References