Henri Regnault Mort

Carolus-Duran

Carolus-Duran, Henri Régnault Mort, 1871-1872

Just outside the great city of Paris the bodies of young French men are piled. All of the faceless soldiers rot as if forgotten. Amongst these uniforms in Buzenval Park lays an artist. Henri Regnault is that artist.  Henri Regnault did not live an extraordinary life. An aspiring artist born in Paris that studied hard and won Prix de Rome art award. Regnault’s many works all were attempts to recreate realistic likeness. Work’s like Automedon show Regnault’s skill through his muscular and wild depiction of his horses. His incredibly observant mind captured images as if it were an expressive camera.  The once-unique mind shredded by a single bullet, and Henri Regnault sinks slowly into a pool of blood, sweat, and sludge. War reduced the creator of Automedon to another dead soldier. The Franco-Prussian War ended Henri Regnault, but it did not erase his memory. Henri Regnault lives on through his creations and through the paintings and music devoted to him by his close friends and colleagues. Carolus-Duran paints Regnault shortly after his final moments. The painting is not violent or heroic. The scene appears peaceful. This is no soldier dying in a final stand against the enemy. This is a man who died before his time. We look upon this painting as if Carolus-Duran were giving us a glimpse into Regnault’s funeral. Duran opens the casket of the battlefield and there lies his fellow artist, Henri Regnault.  

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  • 10:57 PM

The Kiss

Carolus-Duran
Carolus-Duran, The Kiss, 1868
Embracing in a newlywed kiss, Carolus-Duran, painted himself kissing his wife in 1868. Carolus-Duran became well known for his portraits, this painting, however, has a particular uniqueness to it. It’s not a common subject matter, married life has never been much of a topic in European art. 

Typically, if couples are portrayed, they are displayed later in their relationship in a placed arrangement or in separate but matching portraits. This painting depicts the couple in an early and spontaneous moment in the relationship, as seen by the obviously thrown bouquet in the lower right-hand corner. The feeling of spontaneity comes when viewing this painting and therefore adds to the youthful romanticism taking place.

Carolus-Duran was a French painter and art instructor best known for his portraiture, many of whom were of women.  He studied at the Lille Academy and then at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1861 he visited Italy and Spain, and became influenced by the old masters, especially Velázquez. After returning to France, Carolus-Duran's first major success came with "The Assassination" in 1866, "The Kiss" followed in 1868. But, his most significant painting would be "Lady with a Glove," painted in 1869, which brought him fame, and launched his career as a successful portrait painter.


  • 12:00 AM

Lady with the Glove

Carolus-Duran
Carolus-Duran, Lady with the Glove, 1869.
What comes to mind when you think "portraiture?" Perhaps you yawn, nonplussed by the thought of another painting of a rich woman sitting in her mansion. Maybe you laugh, finding pleasure in the uncomfortable facial expression of a subject that seems to be fighting his sheer agitation from the artist's time-consuming attention to detail. Prior to the late-nineteenth century enhancements to the realm of portraiture, this art form seemed boring in comparison to Titian's whimsical cherubs or David's intricate battle scenes. Yet suddenly, portraits became much more than simply a payment opportunity for struggling artists.

Portraiture became a mysterious glimpse into one's private life, bringing with it a story that intrigued viewers of every class. But the question remains: how did the artist reveal the subject without straying away from the intention of the painting? A painted portrait was the ultimate status symbol, and an artist could not reflect his subject in a bad light. Additionally, the unveiling of Manet's Olympia sparked a paranoia among affluent women - sparking controversy did not serve as a mark of popularity in the elite circles of European society.

Thus, only a truly skilled artist could execute a portrait that (a) met the expectations of its commissioner, and (b) had a distinct quality that instigated interest and acclaim. Carolus-Duran's Lady with the Glove serves as the perfect example of enlightened portraiture. The practically empty background draws the viewer to the beauty of its subject (which happens to be Duran's wife), and allows his gifted technique to shine in the intricacy of her dress and the life-like glint in her chestnut eyes. Yet what distinguished this portrait from the hundreds of others that had been submitted for entrance to the 1869 Paris Salon? Answer: a glove. The woman has mysteriously shed a pearly white glove from her right hand, and seems to be caught in the act of removing the other, as a single red flower lies on her tiny wrist. Suddenly, this seemingly somber image transforms into the epitome of seduction. Lady with the Glove provides the same sexy intentions of Olympia without offending the Parisian artistic community - a mark only given to the most skilled portraits. 

Though Carolus-Duran's portrait of his wife received praise, the sign of a truly revolutionary painting is the attempt by other artists to mimic its artistic inventiveness. Lady with the Glove was no exception to this. John Singer Sargent, Carolus-Duran's most skilled pupil, used the ideals of Lady with the Glove to complete his portrait of Amelie Gautreau. Sargent produced numerous sketches of Paris's most-celebrated American socialite, yet only one captured the same intoxicating combination of tact and seduction portrayed in Carolus-Duran's work. The simple slipping of a dress strap revealed the sexual liberty of Madame X. Despite its intense controversy, Sargent honed in on the qualities of nineteenth century portraiture exhibited in Lady with the Glove - simplicity tinged with one small attribute that left audiences guessing. 

  • 12:00 AM

The Merrymakers

Carolus-Duran
Carolus-Duran, The Merrymakers, 1870
Not much credit goes to the wildly talented Carolus Duran, teacher of world-renowned John Singer Sargent. In The Merrymakers, the brushwork and attention to facial detail shows where Sargent got his style. If I didn't know any better, I would say this painting was done by the hands of Sargent.

A comment on society and a view on women of La Belle Epoque, three women sit down to lunch with an infant. The entire meal seems to serve for the child as they provide her with food, origami toy animals, and a parrot. The baby girl draws in all focus except for the woman chuckling up to the ceiling. The chilling part of this painting is what lays ahead in the baby's future. While the women all shield her from her surroundings, just a hand breaking away from the pastels of their dress, they also will raise her and keep her away from a frivolous lifestyle until she develops into a young adult and is encouraged to marry wealthy. The bread and wine at the table, serving as a Christian religious reminder calls for their 'completely kosher' setting. While the baby wears tans and white, she also has no white in her eyes and wears a delicate red ribbon around her bonnet. Her almost demonic eyes give her perfectly tubby face a dark side.

Her parental figures want to give her the perfect little girl upbringing with happiness and toys and eclairs galore, but drink wine and enjoy the joy that comes in tantalizing animals. It seems an odd detail to blatantly show the other grey woman's wedding ring, but hide the younger tan females hands. Maybe an illegitimate child that will be used to serve as a social redeemer for the family, they will raise her with nurses, toys and nice clothing until she can find a wealthy 40-year-old man to provide.

  • 12:00 AM

Portrait of Mademoiselle de Lancey

1876
Carolus-Duran, Portrait of Mademoiselle de Lancey, 1876 
Carolus-Duran was not only “sought after as a portraitist because he knew how to make his subjects look attractive and important but not at all boring or conventional,” (Davis 65) but he expressed their sexuality in an acceptable fashion. He chose that Mademoiselle de Lancey follow the lead of Titian’s Venus of Urbino and Manet’s Olympia. Her lounging position and direct eye contact lure the viewer inside the frame. Although there are two major alterations from the preceding masterpieces that boosted her reputation: clothing and isolation.

Paris was at the height of fashion in the later parts of the 19th Century. Mademoiselle de Lancey chose a flamboyant and risqué ensemble, exposing her enticing bust and slender crossed ankles, to illustrate both her financial stability and personal confidence with her place at the height of society. The white (or in her case dirty white) sheet of virginal beauty does not lie beneath her, but wraps around her tiny corseted frame. Similar fabric folds and bunching of the train lead viewers gaze toward her, ahem, mid-section. Her isolation commands all of the attention as she resumes responsibility for her actions. Without the watchful eye of a maid or family member, she is free to act as she pleases during afternoon visiting hours.

The alluring sexuality exudes from the hand gestures of the women. Mademoiselle de Lancey does not need to cover herself like Olympia and Venus of Urbino. Instead her right hand grasps a fan and places it suggestively ­­below her waist. The left does not rest at her side, which would create a barrier between her and the viewer, but rather supports her head with an enticing expression. One finger points up as a “come here” gesture, ensuring the command of her invitees.

Carolus-Duran accomplished portraying Madamemoiselle de Lancey with “an increased sense of life and personality” (Davis 79). His inspiration drew from Titian’s Venus of Urbino, and Manet’s Olympia where he succeeded in suppressing the naked sexuality and replacing it with sensual silks. A draping of red, which reveals the passion, appears in each of the four works. This beneath the innocent (or not so innocent) white fabric succeeds in making each woman alluring.

  • 12:00 AM

Portrait of Carolus-Duran

Carolus-Duran
John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Carolus-Duran, 1879
By age 13, John Singer Sargent spent much time studying paintings in museums. Everywhere he went, he took his notebook to sketch and paint what he saw. Mrs. Sargent (John's mother) had friends who encouraged her to arrange professional training for her son. It was a result of this early interest that Sargent met Carolus-Duran.

Sargent first met Carolus-Duran in 1874, when his parents enrolled him in École des Beaux-Arts, an art school in Paris. Carolus-Duran, after assessing Sargent's portfolio, decided to let him study art as his pupil. According to Carolus-Duran, Sargent was to unlearn certain methods he had acquired, but expressed optimism at the young boy's natural talent.

He quickly became one of Carolus-Duran's best students and gained the respect of his peers through his sheer innate ability. The school emphasized the importance of drawing as the foundation of visual art, while Carolus-Duran had his own ideas. He focused on manipulating the paint sensuously. Carolus-Duran held that artists should paint in a fluid way.

Originally, Sargent was interested mainly in landscapes (which explains his numerous sketches of mountains and seas). However, after studying under Carolus-Duran, he developed an interest in creating art out of the people he met. It was with Carolus-Duran's guidance that Sargent started his career in portraiture and gave him an interest in the subject.


  • 12:00 AM