Prix Blumenthal
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The Prix Blumenthal (or ''Blumenthal Prize'') was a grant or
stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...
awarded through the philanthropy of Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930) – and the foundation she created, ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal (Franco-American Florence Blumenthal Foundation)'' – to discover young French artists, aid them financially, and in the process draw the United States and France closer together through the arts. Winners were designated by seven juries in the fields of the literature, painting, sculpture, decorative arts, structure, engraving and music – to receive a purse of six thousand francs per year, given for two years. The purse increased in 1926 until Blumenthal's death in 1930 to ten thousand francs for two years.


History

Beginning in 1919 the foundation awarded nearly two hundred grants, and on April 11, 1937, the Prix Blumenthal was declared ''d'utilité publique ("of public service")'', giving it a special tax classification. Awards were given through 1954. At the time of the foundation's dissolution in 1973 it was under the direction of Georges Huisman, director of the école des Beaux-Arts, along with author André Maurois and novelist Roland Dorgelès. In 2010 (May 14 – June 5), the Médiathèque of
Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...
hosted an exhibit of the Florence Blumenthal archives.


Jurors and leadership

Jurors included philosopher
Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 â€“ 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...
; novelist Roland Dorgelès; novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright
Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; ; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His wo ...
; writer Anna de Noailles; poet and essayist
Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, m ...
; painter Paul Signac, painter and printmaker
Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, Vuillard was a member of the avant garde artistic group Les Nabis, creating paintings that assembled areas ...
, sculptor Paul Landowski, painter and sculptor Aristide Maillol, architect Auguste Perret, composer Paul Dukas, composer
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
and composer/conductor Guy Ropartz. Composer Georges Migot served as vice-president and subsequently as president (1931–1935) of the foundation, as well as the archivist of the winners.


Florence Meyer Blumenthal

Florence Meyer Blumenthal had married international financier George Blumenthal in 1898 and in 1919, she organized what was originally called the ''La Fondation américaine Blumenthal pour la pensée et l’art français (American Foundation for French Art and Thought)'' – a name suggested by her friend,
Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, m ...
, the poet and essayist – and what ultimately became ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal.'' Blumethal's younger brother Eugene Meyer Jr. later become the president and publisher of ''
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'' – and was the father of Katharine Graham, editor of ''The Washington Post'' during
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. She was also related to Levi Strauss through her sisters. In 1925, Blumenthal moved to Paris with her husband, later donating large sums to the Children's Hospital in Paris, the
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 ...
in New York and the Sorbonne in Paris. Blumenthal died in Paris in 1930, at age fifty-five, having won, along with her husband, the French Legion of Honor the previous year.


Impact of the Prix

As an example of the impact of the Prix Blumenthal, textile artist Paule Marrot received the stipend in 1928, which allowed Marrot to open her workshop in Batignolles on rue Truffaut – where she became widely known for furniture textiles. Marrot went on to experience strong popularity and commercial success in the U.S. after World War II, made a strong impact at Renault by pioneering the company's textile and color division, and redefined furnishing fabrics in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. In 1952 Marrot was awarded the French Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor), (''Chevalier'') – and her textiles continue under license to diverse companies including Nike,
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and the handbag maker, Hayden-Harnett.


Recipients

Partial list, by year of award:


References

{{reflist, 2 Humanitarian and service awards French visual arts awards Grants (money) France–United States relations Awards established in 1919