Jean-Jacques Henner (5 March 1829 - 23 July 1905) was a French painter, noted for his use of sfumato and chiaroscuro in painting figures, religious subjects and portraits.
Henner was born at Bernwiller (Alsace). He began his studies in art as a pupil of Michel Martin Drolling and François-Édouard Picot.
In 1848, he entered the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and took the Prix de Rome with a painting of Adam and Eve finding the Body of Abel in 1858.
In Rome, he was guided by Flandrin, and painted four pictures for the gallery at Colmar among other works.
He first exhibited Bather Asleep at the Salon in 1863 and subsequently contributed Chaste Susanna (1865), now in the Musée d'Orsay.
Other noted works include: Byblis turned into a Spring (1867); The Magdalene (1878); Portrait of M. Hayem (1878); Christ Entombed (1879); Saint Jerome (1881); Herodias (1887); A Study (1891); Christ in His Shroud and a Portrait of Carolus-Duran (1896); a Portrait of Mlle Fouquier (1897); and The Dream (1900).
The Levite of the Tribe of Ephraim (1898) was awarded a first-class medal.
Among other professional distinctions, Henner also took a Grand Prix for painting at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900.
He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1873, Officer in 1878, and Commander in 1889.
In 1889, he succeeded Cabanel in the Institut de France.
Henner's most widely known work is his 1885 painting of Saint Fabiola.
Although the original is now lost, it was copied by artists around the world for devotional purposes.
Artist Francis Alÿs has collected over 500 copies of the painting in a variety of media.
The collection is known as the "Fabiola Project".
Henner died at age 76 in Paris.
Pupils
Henner had numerous pupils; among them were the American painter Mathilde Mueden Leisenring] and the Romanian artist Dimitrie Serafim.
From 1874-1889, organized with Carolus-Duran, what he called "the studio of the ladies" for women were not allowed entry to the École des Beaux-Arts.
Some also served as his models.
One of these was Dorothy Tennant who later married Henry Morton Stanley.
Another pupil was Elizabeth Snowden Nichols Watrous (1858–1921), later the wife of artist Harry Watrous.
Henner gave them a painting when they were married in 1887.
Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) also worked as one of his models. | Source: © Wikipedia
Jean-Jacques Henner (Bernwiller, 5 marzo 1829 - Parigi, 23 luglio 1905) è stato un pittore Francese.
Figlio di contadini alsaziani, si rifugia a Parigi nel 1846 per sfuggire alla grave crisi alimentare che colpisce l'Alsazia in quegli anni.
Entrato all'École des Beaux-Arts nel 1848, frequenta l'atelier di Michel Martin Drolling.
Nel 1858 ottiene il Prix de Rome e per cinque anni studia pittura a Villa Medici, a Roma, apprendendo di Raffaello, Melozzo, Michelangelo, Tiziano, Correggio ed altri.
Autore di numerose opere, apprezzatissimo ritrattista, rimase sempre appartato dall'evoluzione della pittura nel corso degli anni, rimanendo fedele alla sua concezione accademica dell'arte.
Nel 1889 fu eletto membro dell'Académie des Beaux-Arts.
A Parigi, il suo atelier è stato trasformato nel Museo Jean-Jacques Henner, dedicato alla sua opera ed a quella di Édouard Louis Dubufe (1853-1909).
Il pittore Many Benner, suo allievo, è stato il primo conservatore.
Un suo ritratto è stato dipinto da Jean Benner, pittore alsaziano, che era un suo amico. | Fonte: © Wikipedia
Jean-Jacques Henner | Ritratto di Juana Romani | Mosca, State Museum of Modern Western