Henri Loux

Henri Loux (born February 20, 1873 in Auenheim , Alsace , † January 19, 1907 in Strasbourg ) was an Alsatian painter.

life and work

He was born in Auenheim in Alsace in 1873, but spent a large part of his childhood in Sessenheim . In Strasbourg he attended the Protestant grammar school. Aside from drawing and painting, he was just a mediocre student at best. Originally he wanted to become a farmer in Alsace, which at that time was still much more rural. However, under the influence of his father and his drawing teacher Weissandt, he decided to study at the newly established Strasbourg School of Applied Arts.

After two centuries of French influence, Alsace became German in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War . The region stood under the tension of two languages and different mentalities among Germans and French. For the Alsatian artists of the time, the question of studying in Munich or Paris often arose . Private patrons and government funding ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the Academy of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Bavaria in Munich (1893).

Loux returned to his native Alsace in 1897 with his art diploma from the urban district of Schwabing . Forests, pastures and meadows shaped this region. He went on extensive hikes and refined his techniques in the production of sketches, watercolors, pen and ink drawings. The focus was on sedate romance and a bit of sweetness and sentimentality. Revolution was not the thing. However, it was the emerging poster art, with its formal simplification, that attracted him. Landscapes, people with their traditional costumes at festivals and architecture provided him with themes for his works.

The magazine Neuer Elsässer Bilderbogen offered Loux a forum for publication. He was responsible for the graphic part of the publication. The public, however, showed no interest in the periodical; after a dozen issues, the publishing experiment was therefore discontinued. The artist's health also suffered from this professional failure.

The stoneware factory Utzschneider & Cie in Saargemünd then brought a series of dishes onto the market in 1902, and Loux received an offer to decorate them. The artist adapted already realized works to the desired new format: the collection "Obernai" was created. Dinnerware with these motifs is still very popular in Alsace today.

Loux died in Strasbourg on January 19, 1907. He is buried there in the Polygons Cemetery.

Jug and coffee pot from the “Obernai” series, designed by Henri Loux
Table setting from the "Obernai" series

literature

Loux où it-do? Hier et aujourd'hui, ed. by the Association des amis de Henri Loux.
Paul-André Befort and Fernand Gastebois: Henri Loux, L'artiste de l'âme alsacienne, Strasbourg 2011.
Fernand Gastebois: Henri Édouard Loux, in: Nouveau dictionnaire de biographie alsacienne, Volume 25, p. 2442.
Julien and Walter Kiwior: Le "Kunschthaafe", Art, histoire et gastronomie en Alsace, Associatio ARS Alsatiae, Strasbourg 2010.
Gilles Pudlowski: Henri Loux, in: Dictionnaire amoureux de l'Alsace, Paris 2010, pp. 447–452.
Michel Weyl: Image d´Alsace, Le service de table "Obernai" de Henri Loux, Formes et décors, Saargemünd 2000.

personal data
SURNAME	Loux, Henri
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Alsatian painter
DATE OF BIRTH	February 20, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH	Auenheim , Alsace
DATE OF DEATH	January 19, 1907
Place of death	Strasbourg