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Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (; 14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''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-Arts, and his work influenced many other artists, notably Robert Genin, and he aided medallists by designs and suggestions for their works. Puvis de Chavannes was a prominent painter in the early Third Republic.
Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
described his work as "an art made of reason, passion, and will".


Early life

Puvis de Chavannes was born Pierre-Cécile Puvis in a suburb of
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, France, on December 14, 1824. He was the son of a mining engineer and descended from an old noble family of
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
. He later added the ancestral "de Chavannes" to his name. Throughout his life, he spurned his Lyon origins, preferring to identify himself with the 'strong' blood of the Burgundians, where his father originated. Puvis de Chavannes was educated at the
Amiens College Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
and at the Lycée Henri IV 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 ...
. He intended to follow his father's profession until a serious illness compelled him to convalesce at
Mâcon Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...
with his brother and sister-in-law in 1844 and 1845, which interrupted his studies. A journey to Italy opened his mind to fresh ideas, and on his return to Paris in 1846, he announced his intention to become a painter. He studied first under
Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 â€“ 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...
, but only very briefly, as Delacroix closed his studio shortly afterwards due to ill health. He studied subsequently under Henri Scheffer and then Thomas Couture. His training was not classical as he found that he preferred to work alone. He took a large studio near the
Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris Gare de Lyon (), is one of the seven large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and ...
and attended anatomy classes at the Académie des Beaux Arts. It was not until a number of years later, when the government of France acquired one of his works, that he gained wide recognition. In 1850, Puvis de Chavannes made his Salon debut with ''Dead Christ'', ''Jeune noir à l'épée (Black youth with a sword)'', ''The Reading Lesson'', and ''Portrait of a Man''.


Work

Puvis de Chavannes's work is seen as
symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
in nature, even though he studied with some of the romanticists, and he is credited with influencing an entire generation of painters and sculptors, particularly the works of the Modernists. One of his protégés was Georges de Feure.


Mural work

Puvis de Chavannes is best known for his
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
painting, and came to be known as 'the painter for France.' His first commission was for his brother's chateau, Le Brouchy, a medieval-style structure near Cuiseaux in Saône-et-Loire. The principal decorations take the four seasons as their theme. His first public commissions came early in the 1860s, with work at the Musée de Picardie at Amiens. The first four works were ''Concordia'' (1861), ''Bellum'' (1861), ''Le Travail'' (Work; 1863) and ''Le Repos'' (Rest; 1863). Between 1883 and 1886 he painted a mural for the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon.


The regions

Over the course of his career, Puvis received a substantial number of commissions for works to be carried out in public and private institutions throughout France. His early work at the Musée de Picardie had helped him to develop his classicizing style, and the decorative aesthetic of his mural works. Among his public works are the later cycles completed at Amiens (''Ave Picardia Nutrix'', 1865), at Marseille, at Lyon and at Poitiers. Of particular importance is the cycle at the Palais de Beaux Arts in Lyon, which includes three significant works, filling the wall space in the main staircase. From left to right, the works are ''Antique Vision'' (1884), ''The Wood Dear to the Arts and the Muses'' (1884), and ''Christian Inspiration'' (1884).


Paris

Puvis' career was tied up with a complicated debate that had been ongoing since the beginning of the Third Republic (1870), and at the end of the violence of the Paris Commune. The question at stake was the identity of France and the meaning of 'Frenchness'. Royalists felt that the revolution of 1789 had been an immense disaster and that France had been thrown off course, while the Republicans felt that the Revolution had allowed France to revert to its true course. Consequently, works that were to be displayed in public spaces, such as murals, had the important task of fulfilling the ideology of the commissioning party. Many scholars of Puvis's works have noted that his success as a 'painter for France' was largely due to his ability to create works which were agreeable to the many ideologies in existence at this time. His first Parisian commission was for a cycle at the church of
Saint Genevieve Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Reco ...
, which is now the secular Pantheon, begun in 1874. His two subjects were ''L'Education de Sainte Geneviève'' and ''La Vie Pastoral de Sainte Geneviève''. This commission was followed by works at the Sorbonne, namely the enormous hemicycle, ''The Sacred Grove'' or ''L'Ancienne Sorbonne'' amongst the muses in the Grand Amphitheater of the Sorbonne. His final commission in this trinity of Republican commissions was the crowning glory of Puvis's career, the works ''Summer'' and ''Winter'', at the (City Hall) in Paris. Many of these works are characterized by their nod to classical art, visible in the careful balanced compositions, and the subject matter is frequently a direct reference to visions of
Hellenistic Greece Hellenistic Greece is the historical period of Ancient Greece following Classical Greece and between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek Achaean League heartlands by the Roman Republic. This cul ...
, particularly in the case of ''Antique Vision''.


Works on canvas

Puvis de Chavannes was president and co-founder in 1890 of the '' Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts'' (''National Society of Fine Arts'') founded 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 ...
. It became the dominant salon of art at the time and held exhibitions of contemporary art that was selected only by a jury composed of the officers of the Société. Those who translated best the spirit of the work of Puvis de Chavannes in their own creations were, in Germany, the painter Ludwig von Hofmann and in France,
Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
. His easel paintings also may be found in many American and European galleries. Some of these paintings are: *''Death and the Maiden'' *''The Dream'' *''The Poor Fisherman'', 1881, oil on canvas *''Vigilance'' *''The Meditation'' *''Mary Magdalene at Saint Baume'' *''Saint Genoveva'' *''Young Girls at the Seaside'', 1879, oil on canvas *''Mad Woman at the Edge of the Sea'' *''Hope'' *''Hope (nude)'' *''Kneeling nude woman, viewed from back'' * ''The Sacred Grove'' As far as the appreciation of his life's work is concerned, Puvis de Chavannes was never properly understood by his contemporaries. At the beginning of his career, art criticism was divided into two camps. Adored by the idealists, he was despised by the partisans of the realists. Only with the advent of Symbolism did these two camps unite, but without achieving a convincing appreciation of the painter. Today's research has inherited this contradiction of art criticism and therefore still does not offer a convincing presentation of Puvis de Chavanne's art.


Personal life

In
Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
, he had an affair with one of his models,
Suzanne Valadon Suzanne Valadon (; 23 September 1865 – 7 April 1938) was a French painter who was born Marie-Clémentine Valadon at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1894, Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the . She was also the ...
, who would become one of the leading artists of the day as well as the mother, teacher, and mentor of
Maurice Utrillo Maurice Utrillo (; born Maurice Valadon; 26 December 1883 – 5 November 1955) was a French painter of the School of Paris who specialized in cityscapes. From the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France, Utrillo is one of the few famous painters of ...
. From 1856, he was in a relationship with the Romanian princess, Marie Cantacuzène. The couple were together for 40 years, and were married before their deaths in 1898.


Puvis de Chavannes Prize

Beginning in 1926, The '' Prix Puvis de Chavannes'' (Puvis de Chavannes prize) was awarded by the National Society of Fine Arts ('' Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts''). The ''Prix Puvis de Chavannes'' is the retrospective exhibition in Paris of the main works of the artist awarded the prize that year. During the twentieth century, this exhibition was located at the
Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...
or the ''Musée d'Art Moderne''. Recipients of the prize include: * 1941: Wilhem Van Hasselt * 1944: Jean Gabriel Domergue * 1948: Joseph Pinchon * 1952: Tristan Klingsor * 1955: Georges Delplanque * 1957: Albert Decaris * 1958: Jean Picard Le Doux * 1963:
Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter. Artistic life Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. ...
, * 1966: Pierre Gaillardot * 1968: Pierre-Henry * 1969: Louis Vuillermoz * 1970: Daniel du Janerand * 1971: Jean-Pierre Alaux * 1975: Jean Monneret * 1987: André Hambourg * 1991: Gaston Sébire * 1993: Jean Cluseau-Lanauve * 2006: Paul Collomb Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Biennale 1991, Grand Palais, année du centenaire, catalogue pages 8 and 9


Gallery

File:Pierre puvis de chavannes, giovane nero con la spada, 1850.JPG, ''Jeune noir à l'épée'' (Black lad with a sword) (1850),
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 ...
File:Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1863, Le Travail, Musée de Picardie.jpg, ''Le Travail'' (1863), Musée de Picardie File:Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes 004.jpg, ''The White Rocks'' (1869–1872) File:Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes 007.jpg, ''Hope'' (1872),
Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
File:Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes 003.jpg, ''The Dream'' (1883),
Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
File:Pierre Puvis de Chavannes - "Ludus Pro Patria" - Walters 3716.jpg, ''Ludus Pro Patria'' (1883),
Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
File:Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes 001.jpg, '' The Shepherd's Song'' (1891) File:Poorfisherman.JPG, '' The Poor Fisherman'' (1881),
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 ...
File:Pierre Puvis de Chavannes - Study for Patriotism - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Study for Patriotism'' (ca. 1893)


See also

*
Symbolism (arts) In works of art, literature, and narrative, a symbol is a concrete element like an object, character, image, situation, or action that suggests or hints at abstract, deeper, or non-literal meanings or ideas.Johnson, Greg; Arp, Thomas R. (2018). ...
*
Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...
*
List of European art awards This list of European art awards covers some of the main art awards given by organizations in Europe. Some are restricted to artists in a particular genre or from a given country or region, while others are broader in scope. The list is organized ...
*
Les Maîtres de l'Affiche ''Maîtres de l'Affiche'' (Masters of the Poster) refers to 256 color lithographic plates used to create an art publication during the Belle Époque in Paris, France. The collection, reproduced from the original works of ninety-seven artists in a ...


References


Sources

*


Further reading

* Paul Baudoüin
"Souvenirs sur Puvis de Chavannes"
''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'', 6e période, tome XIII, janvier 1935, pp. 295-314. * Manuel Mayer: Die erträumte Kunst Pierre Puvis de Chavannes’. Eine Studie zum Verhältnis von Forschung und Kunstkritik im Angesicht einer Malerei zwischen Staffelei- und Wandbild. Hrsg.: ART Dok. Publikationsplattform Kunst- und Bildwissenschaften der Universität Heidelberg. Heidelberg 2020. http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/7008/7/Mayer_Die_ertraeumte_Kunst_Pierre_Puvis_de_Chavannes_2020.pdf * Arcadia by the shore : the mythic world of Puvis de Chavannes, xhibotion Catalogue Katalog, Bunkamura Museum of Art (Tokyo), Shimane Art Museum (Matsue) Aimée Brown-Price, with contribution by Bertrand Puvis de Chavannes, Tokyo/Matsue 2014. * Aimée Brown-Price Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 2 vols, New Haven/London 2010, Yale University Press. * Kerstin Thomas: Welt und Stimmung bei Puvis de Chavannes, Seurat und Gauguin, Passagen/Passages Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte, Berlin/Munich 2010. * Puvis de Chavannes. Une voie singulière au siècle de l'Impressionnisme, xhibition Catalogue, Musée de Picardie Amiens Matthieu Pinette, Amiens 2005. * Jennifer L. Shaw Dream States. Puvis de Chavannes, Modernism, and the Fantasy of France, New Haven/London 2002. * From Puvis de Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso: toward modern art, xhibition Catalogue, Palazzo Grassi Serge Lemoine, Venice 2002. * Puvis de Chavannes au musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, xhibition Catalogue, Musée des Beaux-Arts Lyon Dominique Brachlianoff, Lyon 1998. * Brian Petrie Puvis de Chavannes, Aldershot/Vermont 1997. * Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, xhibition Catalogue, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Aimée Brown Price, Zwolle 1994. * Robinson, W.H., 1991, ‘Puvis de Chavannes’s ‘Summer’ and the Symbolist Avant-Garde’, ''The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art'', Vol. 78, No. 1 (Jan.) pp. 2–27 * Dictionnaire de la peinture française, Librairie Larousse, 1989/1991, Paris, * Stefan Germer Historizität und Autonomie. Studien zu Wandbildern im Frankreich des 19. Jahrhunderts. Ingres, Chassériau, Chenavard und Puvis de Chavannes, Studien zur Kunstgeschichte, vol 47, Hildesheim/Zurich/New York 1988. * Puvis de Chavannes. 1824–1898, xhibition Catalogue, Grand Palais, Paris, Galerie nationale du Canada, Ottawa Secrétariat d'État à la Culture und Éditions des Musées Nationaux, Louise d'Argencourt (Ottawa) and Jacques Foucart (Paris), Paris 1976 / The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa 1977. * Puvis de Chavannes and The Modern Tradition, xhibition Catalogue, Art Gallery of Ontario Richard J. Wattenmaker, Toronto/Ontario 1975. * Joseph Ishikawa Moderne Malgré Lui: The Phenomenon of Puvis de Chavannes, Art Journal 27:4, summer 1968. * Robert Goldwater Puvis de Chavannes. Some Reasons for a Reputation, Art Bulletin 28, March 1946. * René Jullian L'Oeuvre de jeunesse de Puvis de Chavannes, Gazette des beaux-arts, November 1938. * Levin, M.R., 1986, ''Republican Art and Ideology in Late Nineteenth Century France'', Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press * Russell T. Clement Four French Symbolists. A Sourcebook on Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Maurice Denis, Westport/London 1996.


External links


Commercial Art Gallery Guide


* * Jennifer A. Thompson,
''Peace'' and ''War'' by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (cat. 1062,1063)
" in
The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works
', a Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication {{DEFAULTSORT:Puvis De Chavannes, Pierre 1824 births 1898 deaths Painters from Lyon 19th-century French painters French male painters French Symbolist painters Lycée Henri-IV alumni French art educators French muralists Commanders of the Legion of Honour Artists of the Boston Public Library Symbolism (arts) Burials at Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery 19th-century French male artists