''Atelier de la rue Furstenberg'' (''Studio on Rue Furstenberg'') is an 1866

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...

painting by the 19th century French

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

artist

Frédéric Bazille Jean Frédéric Bazille (December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted ''en plein air''. ...

, which has been in the collection of the

Musée Fabre The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault ''département''. The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 ...

in Montpellier, France since 1985.

Overview

Depictions of artist's studios was a popular genre of the early 19th century. This 1866 painting depicts the studio Bazille was sharing with

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

at 6 Place de Furstenburg in the

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in a reference to the seat of ...

in January 1866. It was located near the center of Paris, on the Left Bank, near the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and within walking distance of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. After Bazille arrived in Paris in 1864, he initially had no studio of his own and had to borrow from a friend and lodge elsewhere. However, with financial support from his parents, he found a studio with two attached bedrooms which would allow him to save time and money by living and working at the same place. Monet was already familiar with the place having painted his '' Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe'' in the same studio in 1865. Bazille's painting depicts a corner of the room, which is furnished with only two armchairs. A doorway in a back corner leads to one of the small bedrooms, through the window of which one catches a glimpse of the gray winter sky. A paintbox, palette and some brushes are on the floor and several paintings line the walls. No one appears in the studio, but the paintings hint at the inhabitants. The '' Portrait of Claude Monet'' by Gilbert Alexandre de Séverac hangs on the wall at left, just above a small table. One of the unframed paintings above is Monet's '' The Beach at Honfleur'' and another to the right of the doorway is his '' Road by Saint-Siméon Farm''. Above the alcoves with the wood stove is either Bazille's ''

Beach at Sainte-Adress A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

'' or Monet's '' Hevaux à la pointe de la Hève'', both of which were painted in this studio. '' The Beach at Honfleur'' (1864) by Claude Monet (on the same wall, to the right); ''Road by Saint-Siméon Farm'' (1864) by Claude Monet (to the right of the door on the back wall). From the window of this studio, Bazille and Monet could look across the courtyard of the same building to see a studio used by the

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: British ...

between 1857 and his death in 1863. Delacroix had moved to Rue Fursenberg to be close to the

Église Saint-Sulpice , image = Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 4-5 A.jpg , image_size = , pushpin map = Paris , pushpin label position = , coordinates = , location = Place Saint-Sulpice6th arrondis ...

, where he was painting a chapel. That studio was later used by

Diogène Maillart Diogène Ulysse Napoléon Maillart (28 October 1840 – 3 August 1926) was a French painter, illustrator, designer, teacher and art critic. Biography He was born into a modest family of small farmers in Lachaussée-du-Bois-d'Écu. His first a ...

, Delacroix's student, whilst working to win the first prize for painting in 1864. Both Bazille and Monet were great admirers of Delacroix, and they may have been attracted to the 6 Place de Furstenburg address because of this connection. Bazille was also probably aware of Delacroix's ''

Studio Corner with Stove A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industria ...

'', which was placed on sale upon Delacroix's death in 1864. The stove in Bazille's painting is on similar design and positioning, and have been intended as a homage to Delacroix as is the painting of flowers depicted over the doorway. The building in which this studio was located is now the Musée national Eugène-Delacroix.

References

*Pitman, Dianne W. (1998). ''Bazille: Purity, Pose and Painting in the 1860s.'' University Park: Penn State University Press.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Studio on Rue Furstenberg Paintings in the Musée Fabre 1866 paintings Paintings by Frédéric Bazille Paintings about painting

Overview

See also

References

Notes