Henri Paul ROYER (1869 – 1938)
A charming travel painting in tender colors.
Oil on panel
Signed lower right (signature worn)
Annotated on the back on old exhibition label (Ghent): Henri Royer and titled ” Enfant à la fontaine “.
Inscription in pencil: ” Purchased at the Nancy exhibition in 1899 “.
Dimensions: 32 x 41 cm
With frame: 41 x 50 cm
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A travel painting
Charming painting by Henri Royer, probably brought back from one of his trips to the Mediterranean, depicting a little girl sitting on the edge of a fountain, leaning against a terracotta jar.
A harmonious, balanced work
A light touch, precise drawing, measured color harmonies in pinkish beiges, enhanced by the soft green of the vegetation, without aggressive glare.
Biography
Henri Royer, genre, portrait and landscape painter born in Nancy. He is the son of Jules Royer, founder of one of Nancy’s largest lithographic printing works. Immersed in the art world, Royer entered the Nancy School of Fine Arts, where he met Émile Friant and exhibited his first works at the Salon de Nancy.
These early successes prompted his parents and teachers to encourage a study trip to the Netherlands with Emile Friant.
On his return in 1888, he enrolled at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger. In 1890, he made his Salon debut with a painting entitled ” Le Vagabond“, for which he received an honorable mention.
He won numerous awards, including the Prix Nationale in 1898 and the gold medal at the 1900 Universal Exhibition. He was named Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur on December 14, 1907.
In 1901, he was offered the directorship of the women’s studio at the Académie Julian, which he accepted.
In 1906, he helped decorate the Villa Majorelle in Nancy.
His trip to Brittany in 1896 left a deep impression on him, and for the rest of his life, Royer devoted himself to painting the local people.
He spent a long time in North and South America, and traveled throughout Europe, from where he brought back Greek and Sicilian landscapes.
He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on October 31, 1938.
In 2008, an exhibition was organized in Audierne to pay tribute to the painter.
Bibliography
– Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’Ecole de Nancy, 1889-1909: Art nouveau et industries d’art, 1999, 357 p.
– Gérald Schurr, 1820-1920, the little masters of painting
– Valeur de demain, vol. 3, Éditions de l’Amateur, 1986.
– Conseil des musées nationaux, Revue du Louvre: la revue des musées de France, vol. 52, 2002.
– Garcot, Gaudel and Thiry, “Henri Royer”, Le Pays lorrain, Nancy, Berger-Levrault, no. 7, July 1939.
– Gabriel Weisberg and Karal Ann Marling, Montmartre and the Making of Mass Culture, London, Rutgers University Press, 2001,
Museums
France
– Paris, Musée du Louvre; Musée d’Orsay
– Nancy , Musée des Beaux-Arts
– Brest, Musée des Beaux-Arts
– Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Brazil
– Rio de Janeiro, Fine Arts Museum: On the hill, 1891
Source
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Royer_(peintre)
