Léon Leenhoff

Léon Leenhoff (also Léon Koëlla ) (born January 29, 1852 in Paris , † 1927 in Bizy (now part of Vernon ) in the Eure department ) was a frequent model in pictures by Édouard Manet .

Jeunne Homme à la Poire (Léon Leenhoff)

Life

Léon Leenhoff was born the son of the piano teacher Suzanne Leenhoff . The native Dutch named a certain Koëlla as her father, about whose identity nothing is known. The child was godfathered by the painter Édouard Manet , whose younger brothers were taught piano by Suzanne Leenhoff. Suzanne and Léon lived together with Suzanne's brothers, the sculptor Ferdinand Leenhoff and the painter Rudolph Leenhoff, and their grandmother in an apartment. Edouard Manet married Suzanne 11 years later, after his father Auguste Manet had died the previous year. Léon was introduced to the family and Parisian society as Suzanne's younger brother by the name of Léon Leenhoff. Many authors have assumed that Édouard Manet was Léon's father; more recent research suggests a paternity of Auguste Manet.

After Léon grew up in the Manet family, he first worked in the banking house of Edgar Degas' father . In 1881, Léon Leenhoff opened his own bank, which, however, soon had to close again due to financial problems. When Édouard Manet became bedridden due to illness, Léon took care of his godfather. After Édouard Manet's untimely death in 1883, Léon helped prepare for the great commemorative exhibition of his works the following year. Léon was an important contemporary witness and supported the biographers of Édouard Manet in identifying the paintings and was able to pass on important information about their creation.

Léon Leenhoff later ran a shop for small animal supplies and fishing accessories and lived with her until his mother's death (1906). He then took his christening name Léon Koëlla and married a woman named Fanfillon at the age of 54. After retiring, he spent the last years of his life in Normandy, where he died childless in 1927.

Léon Leenhoff is represented in seventeen paintings by Edouard Manet, including the following major works:

Déjeuner in the studio

Garcon aux Bulles de Savon

• Pear peeler portrait Leon Leenhoff / Jeunne Homme à la Poire
• Balcony / Le Balcon
• Breakfast in the Atelier / Déjeuner dans l'Atelier
• Spanish Cavaliers / Cavaliers Espagnols
• Boy with sword / garçon à l'épée
• Fishing / La Pêche
• The soap bubbles / Garcon aux Bulles de Savon
• Music in the Tuileries / Musique aux Tuileries
• The reading / La Lecture

literature

• Otto Friedrich : Edouard Manet and the Paris of his time Kiepenheuer & Witsch 1994 ISBN 3-462-02366-7
• Nancy Locke: Manet and the Family Romance Princeton University Press 2001 ISBN 0-691-05060-0
• Gotthard Jedlicka : Manet Zurich 1941
• Werner Hofmann : Edouard Manet Breakfast in the Fischer Atelier Paperback 1998 ISBN 3-596-23908-7
• James Cuno: Manet Manet Dumont Verlag 2005 ISBN 3-8321-7504-0
• Adolphe Tabarant : Manet Mercure de France 1935

Web links

Commons : Léon Leenhoff  - collection of images, videos and audio files