Émile Friant

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Émile Friant
Realism

Émile Friant (16 April 1863 – 9 June 1932)[1] was a French artist.

Friant was born in the commune of Dieuze. He would later be forced to flee to Nancy by the encroachment of the Kingdom of Prussia's soldiers. He exhibited paintings throughout his lifetime at the Paris Salon.

Friant created works in charcoal, oil, and other media. He also used photographs to prepare finished paintings.[2]

Early life

Friant was born in the

locksmith and mother a dressmaker. The wife of a chemist, Madame Parisot would hire the wife of Émile Friant's father to design custom clothing. The Parisots took an early interest in the young Friant and treated him maternally, as they were without children of their own.[4]

In 1870, with the defeat of the Second French Empire at hand as part of the then-ongoing Franco-Prussian War, annexation of Alsatia occurred and Dieuze was no longer under French state control.[4] Intensely distressed by this, Monsieur Parisot intended to leave the commune for Nancy, but died shortly before having the chance. In 1871,[3] Madame Parisot fled with Friant to Nancy; his biological family would follow later.[4]

Studio of Emile Friant, around 1887

Friant was sent to the

landscape painting.[4]

Friant painted a self-portrait at the age of 15. When it was exhibited in the Salon des Amis des Arts in Nancy he was referred to as Le petit Friant and quickly became the center of public intrigue. The municipal council granted him permission to travel to Paris a year later. There, he studied under

atelier method, returned to Nancy where he worked with the painter Aimé Morot.[5][4]

The Salon

Young lady from Nancy in snow landscape, 1887. Musée des beaux-arts, Nancy
Madame Coquelin Mère

In 1882, Aimé Morot encouraged him to debut two of his works at the Salon: The Prodigal Son and Studio Interior, for which he received an honourable mention.[7] The following year, Friant again presented at the Salon and took second place in the Prix de Rome concours. In 1884 he received a third class medal at the Salon with his painting Un coin d'atelier and in 1885 a second-class medal.[7] He would form a lasting friendship with the actors Ernest and Benoit Coquelin. With the travel grant he received from the Salon of 1886, Friant traveled to and studied in the Netherlands. His portrait of the Coquelins' mother reflects the influence of that trip.[5] In 1889 he exhibited his 1888 painting La Toussaint at the Salon, for which he received a first prize. This painting depicts a revanchist patriotic image of a group of people visiting a cemetery in which the French victims of the Franco-Prussian War were buried.[8] He received a gold medal for the same painting at the Universal Exposition of 1889, as well as the Legion of Honour. The painting was acquired by the State and added to the collection of the Luxembourg[7] and is now on permanent display in the Musée des beaux-arts in Nancy. He received a second gold medal from the jury at the Universal Exposition in 1900,[7] where he exhibited five paintings including La Discussion politique, Jours heureux and La Douleur.[9]

Later life

Frick Art & Historical Center

Friant was appointed a professor of painting in 1923 at the

École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, promoted to the position of commander in the Legion of Honour, and made a member of the Institut de France. In 1930 the art critic Arsène Alexandre published a comprehensive review of the art of Friant.[10] In 1932, Friant fell to his death in Paris.[11]

Lady and the Lion, 1919

Paintings

References

  1. ^ Death certificate on geneanet.org (the creation of an account is required before consulting).
  2. ^ "Émile Friant at the Dahesh Museum of Art, New York". www.daheshmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2008-01-01.
  3. ^ a b Thomson 2004, p. 183
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hamerton, Philip Gilbert (1894). Types Of Contemporary Painting. XII "Cast Shadows", Painted by Emile Friant, Scribner's Magazine 16: 675-678.
  5. ^ a b c d McIntosh 1997, p. 1
  6. ^ a b Villeneuve de Janti, C. 2016. Émile Friant (1863-1932), Le dernier naturaliste? Somogy éditions d’arts, Musée des Beaux Arts de Nancy. 208 p.
  7. ^
    ISBN 2-7000-0152-4
    .
  8. ISBN 1-4438-5376-3
  9. ^ F.-G. Dumas, 1881. Catalogue Officiel illustré de L'Exposition Décennale Des Beaux-arts de 1889 à 1900. L. Baschet, Ed. Imprimeries Lemercier et Cie, 346 p.
  10. ^ Alexandre, A. (1930). Emile Friant et son oeuvre. Published by Etablissement Braun & Cie, Mulhouse-Dornach (Haut-Rhin), 48 p., 62 pl.
  11. ^ Mackintosh, C.R., 1997. Emile Friant: a forgotten realist of the gilded age. The Magazine Antiques 151(4), p. 585.
Drawing of painter Aimé Morot, 1905

Bibliography

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