François Clément Sommier

François Clément Sommier drypoint by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

François Clément Sommier , with the stage name Henry Somm (* 1844 in Rouen ; † March 14, 1907 in Paris ) was a French draftsman, watercolorist and graphic artist of post-impressionism in the late 19th century.

life and work

François Clément Sommier came from Rouen. Sommier studied drawing in his hometown of Rouen at the "École Municipale de Dessin" and was a student of Gustave Morin. In the 1860s he moved to Paris and joined the Impressionists . Henri Bravière taught him printing techniques. Sommier worked under the stage name Henry Somme as an illustrator for books and the magazines Charge, Cravache, L'Inutile, Gazette Parisienne, and the Courier Français. As a graphic artist, he made designs for the porcelain manufacturer Haviland & Co in Limoges, as well as menu cards and posters. The versatile sommelier designed a shadow theater, the pieces of which were performed in the cabaret Le Chat Noir in Montmartre .

Sommier's watercolors and pictures show alternating impressionist, symbolist and japonist motifs. Sommier, who lived in Montmarte, was close friends with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas . The latter helped him to take part in the fourth Impressionist exhibition in the Durand-Ruel Gallery in 1879 alongside Félix Bracquemond , Mary Cassatt and Camille Pissarro . From the eighties onwards, Sommier worked mainly as a graphic designer and illustrator for magazines and books. In 1889 he again took part in the Impressionist exhibition in the Durand-Ruel gallery. Sommier died in Paris in 1907.

Works

Examples of his works:

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  Ladies with hat

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  Lady in profile with hat

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  Lady with blue hat

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  Elegant Japanese

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  Lady with a Red Cape

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  Lady with swan

Secondary literature

• Elizabeth K. Mason: Henry Somm: Impressionist, Japoniste or Symbolist? , Master Drawings, vol. XXXIII, 1995, p. 8.

Web links

• Philip Neil : The Enigma of Henry Somm, on Idbury prints