Henri DOUCET (1883 – 1915), Paris, Luxembourg Gardens

Biography

Henri Doucet was born into a family of workers and farmers in Pleumartin in 1883. Noted for his talent as a painter, he studied under Professor M. Mourgeon at Châtellerault. Henri Doucet moves to Paris and works on decorating the pavilions for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. Living on the rue de Buci, he drew from antiques in the galleries of the École des Beaux-Arts and decided to devote himself to the study of painting. Painter Jean-Léon Gérôme notices his talents and lets him work in his studio. He took the competitive entrance examination for the École des Beaux-Arts and came second, thanks to which the town of Châtellerault and the Vienne département awarded him a scholarship. He studied at the École des Beaux-arts until 1907. In 1905, he spent some time in Saint-Tropez, where he met Paul Signac, who introduced him to the Neo-Impressionist technique. The same year, he embarked on a trip to Italy, visiting Milan, Rome, Venice, Padua, Florence, Siena and Naples. Henri became a pupil of Gabriel Ferrier, then Jean-Paul Laurens, who taught him the art of large-scale compositions, and finally Henri Martin, with whom he worked on the decoration of the Capitole de Toulouse. He frequented the art world of the Belle Époque. A multi-faceted artist, he tried his hand at different practices simultaneously: painting, sculpture, decorative arts, even taking an interest in theatrical costumes and decoration. His artistic production illustrates his curiosity and desire to develop a personal style. His journey took him to Italy, then London and finally Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, where he met representatives of the avant-garde movements. Caught up in the First World War, he died prematurely in a trench on the Eastern Front in 1915, aged just 32. Scattered across Europe (Roubaix, Paris, Saint-Tropez, London, Copenhagen, Oslo…), his creations are held in numerous public and private collections. In France, Le Grand Atelier, Musée d’art et d’industrie de Châtellerault and Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers between them own some thirty works by this painter from Poitiers, whose fate was struck by lightning.

Exhibitions

– October-November 1908: Salon d’Automne, Paris – December 1909-June 1910: International Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, Odessa, Vladimir Izdebsky gallery 1911: XXII. Ausstellung der Berliner Secession, Berlin – October-December 1912: Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition. British, French and Russian Artists, London, Grafton Galleries – February 1913: Exhibition of paintings, Paris, Galerie Eugène Druet – February-April 1913: Armory Show, New York; then Chicago – October 1913 – January 1914: Post-Impressionist and Futurist Exhibition, London, Doré Gallery – January 1914: The Grafton Group. Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant. Second Exhibition, London, Galleries of the Alpine Club – May-June 1914: 46. výstava S.V.U. Manes v Praze, Prague, Kinsky Garden Pavilion

Posthumous recognition

In 1919, the Salon d’Automne presented the painter’s works for the exhibition of artists who died for their country. The Salon des Indépendants held a retrospective of the artist’s work in 1926. Then in 1948, Marc Sandoz, curator of the Poitiers museums, organized a retrospective. In 1975, Les Amis de l’Abbaye de Créteil organized an exhibition at the Archives du Val-de-Marne in tribute to Henri Doucet.

Bibliography

https://www.alienor.org/collections/personne/6726-doucet-henri https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Doucet