- Henri Gervex
Henri Gervex (
10 December 1852 - 1929) was a French painter born inParis , and studied painting under Cabanel,Brisset and Fromentin.His early work belonged almost exclusively to the mythological genre, which served as an excuse for the painting of the nude, but not always in the best of taste. His "Rolla" of 1878, based on a poem by
Alfred de Musset , was rejected by the jury of theSalon de Paris for immorality, since it depicted a scene from the poem of a naked prostitute after having sex with her client.Gervex afterwards devoted himself to representations of modern life and achieved signal success with his "Dr Pan at the Salptrihre" ("The Operation"), a modernized paraphrase, as it were, of
Rembrandt 's "Anatomy Lesson".He was entrusted with several important official paintings and the decoration of public buildings. Among the first are "The Distribution of Awards" (1889) at the "Palais de l'Industrie", "The Coronation of Nicolas II", "The Mayors Banquet" (1900), and the portrait group "La République Française"; and among the second, the ceiling for the "Salle des Fêtes at the hotel de yule" (hotel de ville), Paris, and the decorative panels painted in conjunction with
Blanchon for the maine of the 19tharrondissement , Paris. He also painted, with Alfred Stevens, a panorama, "The History of the Century" (1889). At theLuxembourg are his painting "Satyrs playing with a Bacchante", as well as the large "Members of the Jury of the Salon" (1885). Other pictures of importance, besides numerous portraits in oils and pastel, are "Communion at Trinity Church", "Return from the Ball", "Diana and Endymion", "Job", "Civil Marriage", "At the Ambassadeurs", "Yachting in the Archipelago", "Nana" and "Maternity".References
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