Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ

Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ (10 June 1842 – 19 February 1923) was an Orientalist French painter and sculptor. He was strongly influenced by the works and teachings of Charles Gleyre and Jean-Léon Gérôme. Lecomte du Nouÿ found inspiration for his art through extensive travels to Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Romania and Italy. The thematic content of Lecomte du Nouÿ's work was mainly figural, but also spanned over a vast range of imagery throughout his career, including classical, historical and religious.

Lecomte du Nouÿ is known for remaining faithful to his detailed, realistic style throughout the extent of his career, despite the onset of the Impressionist, Fauvist and Constructivist artistic movements during his lifetime. His work is said to have contributed significantly to the establishment of an iconic repertoire representing the Orient in the nineteenth century. A Parisian street was named after him in 1932.

Early life and education

Jean-Jules-Antoine was born on 10 June 1842 in Paris. Originally of a Piedmontese origin, his family had been settled in France since the fourteenth century and by the time of his birth had reached the status of nobility. In 1861, at 19 years of age, the artistic talents of young Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ prompted him to become a pupil at the atelier of Swiss artist, Charles Gleyre. Under Gleyre's guidance Jean-Jules-Antoine learned the significance of individualistic style and gained the foundations of creative visual presentation. In later years, he continued his travels, visiting countries like Italy and Greece. Lecompte du Nouy found inspiration in all social, historical and literary facets of foreign culture.

Later life and death

Du Nouÿ spent most of the later years of his life in Romania. There he painted primarily the royal family and their subjects.

Selected paintings 1864 : Le Guet-à-pens 1866 : Invocation de Neptune 1869 : Le souper de Beaucaire 1870 : Démosthène s'exerçant à la parole 1871 : Chrétiennes au tombeau de la Vierge 1872 : Les porteurs de mauvaises nouvelles 1874 : Un rêve d'eunuque 1875 : Judith 1878 : Adolphe Crémieux 1882 : The Reading of the Bible by the Rabbis (A Souvenir of Morocco) 1884 : Le Marabout prophète 1888 : L'esclave blanche (The White Slave) 1889 : Le samedi au quartier juif 1890 : Le dimanche à Venise 1899 : Portrait du Roi et de la Reine de Roumanie 1902 : Mademoiselle de Maupin 1904 : La Sorcière 1904 : Rêve d'Orient 1905 : La Péri et le Poète 1913 : La dernière ronde 1919 : Etude pour la Victoire

Paris The rue Lecomte du Nouÿ runs west from the boulevard Murat in arrondissement 16.

Gallery

Literature Roger Diederen, "From Homer to the harem: The art of Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ" (New York: Dahesh Museum of Art, 2004) incl. catalogue raisonné.