André Devambez

André Victor Édouard Devambez (26 May 1867 – 18 March 1944) was a French painter and illustrator. best-known his whimsical illustrations of children's books and his dramatic paintings of Paris scenes and of early airplanes from a viewpoint high above. He was professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, a member of the French Academie des Beaux-Arts, and a Commander of the French Legion of Honor, but his work is little known today aside from nine paintings found in the Musée d'Orsay, and occasional special exhibitions.

André Victor Édouard Devambez (26 May 1867 – 18 March 1944) was a French painter and illustrator. best-known his whimsical illustrations of children's books and his dramatic paintings of Paris scenes and of early airplanes from a viewpoint high above. He was professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, a member of the French Academie des Beaux-Arts, and a Commander of the French Legion of Honor, but his work is little known today aside from nine paintings found in the Musée d'Orsay, and occasional special exhibitions.

Biography

André Devambez was born on 26 May 1867. His father, Édouard Devambez, was the son of a butcher, who became an engraver. His father met his wife, Catherine Véret, when they were both apprentices in engraving. In 1870 his parents opened their own studio at Passage des Panoramas, called the Maison Devambez, which he built into a major publishing house, commissioning and selling engravings and other art. From an early age André wanted to become an artist. His father arranged private lessons with Gabriel Guay, a former student of Jean-Léon Gérôme, who encouraged the young Devambez to become a history painter. In 1884 took private lessons from Jules Lefebvre at the Académie Julian. In 1885 he succeeded in the entry examination to the École des Beaux-arts, where he studied with Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Gustave Boulanger. In 1890, He was awarded the Prix de Rome for his somber depiction of the denial of Peter which gave him a position to study and paint for five years at the Villa Médicis of Academy in Rome. His studies were interrupted by military service in until November 1892, He resumed his studies in Rome in 1893, when he submitted his required finished work to the Academy, a painting of the Prodigal Son. Devambez purchased a camera and posed in costume for the painting himself. In 1894 he submitted to the Academy a painting of "The Legend of Saint Agatha", with multiple characters in varied poses; then, in 1898, a monumental work depicting "The Conversion of the Madeleine", which obtained for him the Medal of Second Class. In 1900 he married Cécile Richard, the daughter of a chemist from Alsace. They had two children, Pierre and Valentine. In 1899 he was elected a member of the Société des Artistes Français, at whose annual Salon he exhibited, and in 1905 he became a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. He also began turning his attention to illustrations, and smaller genre works. In 1898 he illustrated a novel by Emile Zola, "La Fete de Coqueville". In May 1913 he had his first personal exhibition at the gallery of Georges Petit. When the First World War began in 1914, he was too old to be drafted into the army, but volunteered to be a battlefield artist, and to paint camouflage to conceal of army positions in the front lines. On 3 June 1915, at Amiens, he was seriously wounded in the leg and the left eye by an exploding German artillery shell. He spent a long convalescence in the hospital. In August 1915 was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his services. In 1929, he was named head of the painting section at the École des Beaux-Arts, France's most prestigious art school, a position he retained until 1937. He opened the atelier for the first time to women students. That same year, he was elected to Seat #9 at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, which he held until his death. IN 1934, he was awarded the unusual position of official painter of the Ministry of Aviation, where he used his art to publicise the growing aviation industry. In the same year he was named a member of the Fine Arts Commission for the 1937 Paris International Exposition; his paintings of the Exposition, made from high above on the Eiffel Tower, gave a striking new perspective to the Exposition. In 1938, he was named a Commander in the Legion of Honor. He died at his home at the Pavillon Raffet at the Villa Adrienne on 18 March 1944, at the age of seventy-seven.

The "Tout-Petits" and "Ulysses and Calypso"

The "Tout-Petits" are a genre of very small paintings made by Devambez, which usually illustrated an anecdote or joke. They were generally only a few dozen centimetres in size, and sometimes were set in very elaborate frames, and became a kind of display object, between a sculpture and a painting. In 1936, during the Great Depression, he faced some financial difficulties, and reverted to his earlier style to produce a large and highly decorative work, full of symbolism and color, on the Classical Greek theme of Ulysses and Calypso. It was purchased by the Museum of the Petit Palais.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Devambez Guerre en Dessin- André Devambez" (in French)

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