Jean Emile Laboureur

Émile Laboureur, known as Jean Émile (16 August 1877, Nantes16 June 1943, near Pénestin) was a French painter, designer, engraver, watercolorist, lithographer, and illustrator.

Biography He was born to a prosperous bourgeois family. In 1895, he went to Paris and, following his father's wishes, enrolled at a law school. He stayed for only a short time before deciding to pursue a career in the fine arts instead, studying at the Académie Julian, where he learned engraving from Auguste-Louis Lepère. His debut at the Salon came in 1896. Most of his initial works were wood engravings on Primitivist themes, reminiscent of Paul Gauguin.

After a stay in Germany, visiting museums, he went to the United States in 1904. It was there he first began referring to himself as "Jean Émile". He returned to the United States and Canada several times from 1905 to 1909, to participate in exhibits. After 1911, he travelled to England, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

During World War II, he became ill and retired to his home near Pénestin, where he died in 1943. A street in Nantes was named after him. His works may be seen at the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes and the .

Selected works