Albert Besnard

Paul-Albert Besnard, around 1920

Paul-Albert Besnard (* 2. June 1849 in Paris ; † 4. December 1934 ) was a French painter of Impressionism .

Life

Paul-Albert Besnard came from a family of artists. His father, himself a versatile artist ( sculptor and miniature painter ), died shortly after his birth. His mother was a respected miniaturist.

As a 15-year-old Besnard quickly found a place in Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' studio and only two years later (1866) he was accepted into the painting class of the École des Beaux-Arts . His teachers Jean-François Brémond (1807–1868) and Alexandre Cabanel exerted a great influence on the young Besnard - they also shared a love for the works of the painter Eugène Delacroix . As early as 1874 Besnard won the Prix ​​de Rome with " La mort de Timophane ". The Prix ​​de Rome was the most coveted award for art students and was seen as a stepping stone to the highest academic honors. He also made it possible for the winners to spend four years at the Académie de France à Rome ( Villa Medici ) in Rome .

Albert Besnard: The Artist's Family, oil on canvas, 1890

It took Besnard a long time to find the path that suited him, and only in London , where he went around 1880 with his wife, the sculptor Charlotte Gabrielle Dubray (1855–1930) - the eldest daughter of the famous sculptor Gabriel-Vital Dubray (1813 –1892) -, his peculiarity unfolded. The gray English sky seems to have awakened in him a longing for light and sun, and this striving first found expression in some portraits of women which he sent from London to the Paris Salon . He made the acquaintance of his colleague and compatriot Alphonse Legros , together they also studied the English masters Thomas Gainsborough , Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence .

Returning to Paris, Besnard was commissioned to decorate the vestibule of the pharmacy school, which he carried out in such light tones that these paintings come close to the style of the impressionists. In addition, these representations received recognition insofar as they were compared by some with the free, natural forms of the Florentine frescoes . Since then, he has received other important public building contracts from the state and the city.

Around 1885 he traveled to Spain , Morocco and Algeria accompanied by the painter Jules Chéret . In the further course of his activity Besnard lost himself deeper and deeper in the strangest color experiments and artificial lighting effects, for which he became known.

Albert Besnard died in Paris at the age of 85 and found his final resting place on the Cimetière Montparnasse (Div. 9).

honors and awards

Portrait of Miss Kharitonenko

• 1890 first class medal in Munich
• 1912 member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts
• 1913 member of the Académie de France à Rome
• 1921 Honorary Royal Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London
• 1922 director of the École des Beaux-Arts
• 1924 member of the Académie française (Fauteuil 13)
• 1924 director of the Académie de France à Rome
• 1924 Grand Croix of the Legion of Honor
• 1932 Honorary Member ( Honorary NA ) of the National Academy of Design in New York
• Commander of the Knightly Order of St. Mauritius and Lazarus
• Order of the Crown of Italy
• the rue Albert Besnard in Annecy was named in his honor
• the Albert-Besnard Square in Paris ( 17th arrondissement ) was named in his honor

literature

• Noël Benoît: Sept moments de la vie de Roger Jourdain . In: Le Pays d'Auge , N ° 3, mai-juin (2005)
• Noël Benoît and Jean Hournon: Parisiana. La Capitale des peintres au XIXe siècle . Les Presses Franciliennes, Paris 2006.
• Noël Benoît: Roger Jourdain, un maire de Rueil-Malmaison atypique . In: Bulletin de la Société Historique de Rueil-Malmaison , N ° 26, décembre (2001)
• Noël Benoît and Jean Hournon: Les Arts en Seine, le paradis des peintres . Les Presses Franciliennes, Paris 2004.
• Albert Besnard (1849-1934). Musée Eugène Boudin, Honfleur 2008, ISBN 978-2-902985-12-8 (exhibition catalog)

Web links

Madame Lerolle and Yvonne

Commons : Paul-Albert Besnard  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Short biography and list of works of the Académie française (French)
• Biography - Paul-Albert Besnard (English)
• Biography - Paul-Albert Besnard

Individual evidence

1. ↑ database of RACollections, Academicians , English, accessed on April 23, 2013.
2. ^ List of members of the Académie française , French, accessed on April 23, 2013.
3. ^ Nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "B" / Besnard, Paul Albert Honorary 1932 ( Memento of August 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	successor
Pierre Loti	Member of the Académie française 1924–1934	Louis Gillet