Alexandre Georges Henri Regnault (31 October 1843 – 19 January 1871) was a French painter.

Biography

Regnault was born in

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 ...

, the son of Henri Victor Regnault. On leaving school he successively entered the studios of Antoine Montfort, Louis Lamothe and Alexandre Cabanel, was beaten for 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 ...

'' (1863) by Joseph Layraud and Xaiver Monchablon, and in 1864 exhibited two unremarkable portraits at the Paris Salon. In 1866, however, he carried off the ''Prix de Rome'' with a work of unusual force and distinction ''

Thetis Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Cl ...

bringing the Arms forged by Vulcan to

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

'' ( École de Beaux-Arts). The past in Italy did not touch him, but his illustrations to Wey's ''Rome'' show how observant he was of actual life and manners; even his ''Automedon'' (School of Fine Arts), executed in obedience to Academical regulations, was but a lively recollection of a carnival horse-race. At

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, moreover, Regnault came into contact with the modern Hispano-Italian school, a school highly materialistic and inclined to regard even the human subject only as one amongst many sources of visual amusement. The vital, if narrow, energy of this school told on Regnault with ever-increasing force during the few remaining years of his life. In 1868 he had sent to the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

a life-size portrait of a lady in which he had made one of the first attempts to render the actual character of fashionable modern life. While making a tour in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, he saw General Juan Prim pass at the head of his troops, and received that lively image of a military

demagogue A demagogue (; ; ), or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, Appeal to emotion, appealing to emo ...

which he afterwards put on canvas, somewhat to the displeasure of his subject. But this work made an appeal to the imagination of the public, while all the later productions of Regnault were addressed exclusively to the eye. After a further trip to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, abridged by the necessities of his position as a pensioner of the school of Rome, he painted ''Judith'', then, in 1870, '' Salomé'', and, as a work due from the Roman school, dispatched from

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

the large canvas, ''Execution Without Hearing Under the Moorish Kings''. The

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

arose, and found Regnault at the Battle of Buzenval, where he was killed on 19 January 1871.Collister, Peter (1992). "A 'Legendary Hue': Henri Regnault and the Fiction of Henry James and Mrs Humphry Ward," ''The Modern Language Review,'' Vol. 87, No. 4, p. 827. His friend, the composer

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

dedicated his ''Marche héroïque'' (1871) to Regnault's memory. The sculptor Henri Chapu erected a monument to him in the courtyard of the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in 1872. Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier painted him in the centre of his ''Le siège de Paris'' as the soldier collapsed against the personification of Paris.

Gallery

Thetis apporte a Achille les armes forgees par Vulcain 1866 Henri Regnault.jpg, ''

bringing the Arms forged by Vulcan to

'' (1866), Beaux-Arts de Paris Regnault, Henri - Automedon with the Horses of Achilles - 1868 (2).jpg, '' Automedon with the Horses of Achilles'' (1868),

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

Regnault, Henri, Salomé.jpg, '' Salomé'' (1870),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Henri regnault maures grena.jpg, '' Summary Execution under the Moorish Kings of Granada'' (1870),

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * Gotlieb, M. (2016). ''The Deaths of Henri Regnault''. University of Chicago Press.

External links