Background
Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-marne, France, on March 14, 1836. His father owned a bakery.
Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-marne, France, on March 14, 1836. His father owned a bakery.
Jules Lefebvre's artistic skills were evident at an early age. Thanks to his father’s support, Lefebvre sought and won, a five-year fellowship of 1000 francs given annually from the City of Amiens. This enabled him to move to Paris in 1852. He was trained by Léon Cogniet, a neoclassical history painter. Although only 16 years old at the time, he was admitted to the École Nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts under Cogniet’s auspices.
Lefebvre's debut at the Paris Salon was in 1855. Jules Joseph Lefebvre then spent the next few years pursuing the coveted Prix de Rome, which would fund his study at the French Academy in Rome. In 1859 Jules Joseph Lefebvre came close, placing second. However, two years later, the history painting The Death of Priam would win him first place.
During his five-year sojourn in Rome, he expanded his understanding of both classical Roman culture and the Italian masters of the Renaissance, and he began to focus increasing attention on painting female nudes. The early years in Rome seem to have been a particularly lively time as well; the other French students included Léon Bonnat, Carolus-Duran, Tony Robert-Fleury, Jean-Jacques Henner, Jean-Paul Laurens, and Albert Giraud as well as their professor Léon Cogniet. The friendships formed here would last during a lifetime.
It was in Rome that Lefebvre found his individual artistic niche. Able to study the great Italian masters, Jules Lefebvre was amazed by the Mannerist painters, particularly Andrea del Sarto. Jules Joseph Lefebvre produced copies of his works and demonstrated Andrea's influence in his painting Boy Painting a Tragic Mask (1863).
In 1863 the artist developed his interest in the female nude, painting his first work the same year. Among other works, that Jules Lefebvre created in Rome, were Roman Charity in 1864 and Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi in 1866.
Unfortunately, Jules Lefebvre’s years in Rome were disrupted by the death of his parents and one of his sisters. Not surprisingly, such a significant loss sent him into a severe depression. He emerged from his depression and came back to Paris in 1867. He came to terms with his grief and began to focus on establishing a career as one of France’s leading painters. He had immediate success at the 1868 Salon with Reclining Nude, which won him much praise; his two 1869 submissions, Diana awakening and Portrait of Alexandre Dumas, were equally well received.
The culmination of Lefebvre’s public acclaim occurred in 1870 when Lefebvre’s painting of La Vérité (Truth) received glowing accounts from both the critics and the public. The model was a well-known actress, Sophie Croizette, who was painted in the nude holding the shining globe of "truth" above her head.
Lefebvre continued to depict nude female figures, painting Mary Magdalene (1876), Pandora (1877), Diana (1879), and Psyche (1883) and many others. Unlike William Bouguereau, his only rival in this arena, Jules Lefebvre used a greater variety of models rather than just a few; this strategy presumably broadened the potential audience for this type of painting.
Jules Lefebvre also strengthened his reputation as a portrait artist during the 1870s, painting both celebrities and wealthy bourgeois representatives. Among his sitters were Yvonne, the Imperial Prince in 1874, and the novelist Alexandre Dumas (1869). He exhibited approximately 72 of his portraits at the Salon from 1855 to 1898. Such a prolific output not only ensured a continuing clientele, but also a stable income.
In 1870 Lefebvre became a professor at the Académie Julian (now part of ESAG Penninghen), an art school that trained women artists and men as well as foreigners. There Jules Joseph Lefebvre became the most admired and sought after teacher, and the female students’ respect for Lefebvre was legendary. He was perceived as a teacher who could provide practical advice about succeeding in the world of galleries, dealers and salon exhibitions as well as more traditional instruction in art.
Like all academically trained painters, Jules Lefebvre highlighted the importance of drawing as the foundation for painting and encouraged his students to improve their skills by constantly sketching from live models. Among his most famous American students, were Frank Benson, Childe Hassam, and Edmund Tarbell.
Following the horror of the Paris Commune in 1871, the artist moved his studio on the edge of Montmartre, not far from the Académie Julian. Lefebvre’s professional success continued to expand till the last quarter of the century.
Jules Lefebvre achieved unimagined success as a painter. Among his best-known portraits were those of M. L. Reynaud and the Prince Imperial. In addition, Lefebvre was highly important as an excellent and sympathetic teacher who trained many Americans among his more than 1500 pupils.
During his long and prolific career as an artist, he received plenty of awards and prizes. In 1870 his artistic contribution was recognized with the National Order of the Legion of Honour (Officer), and as soon as in 1898 he was named Commander.
In 1878 Lefebvre was awarded a First Class medal at the Salon, and in 1886, he won the Medal of Honour. At the extravaganza of the 1889 Exposition Universelle celebrating France’s centennial as a republic, the artist won the Grand Prix award.
At age 55, the artist was named a member of the Institut de France, the governing body of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. As John Milner noted in The Studios of Paris, appointment to the Institut was reserved for only fourteen painters, whose responsibility was to ensure a level of professionalism "which militated against amateurism."
Nowadays, his paintings are in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Ghent Museum in Belgium, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Musée du Luxembourg, among others, as well as in various private collections.
Jules Lefebvre became a member of the Institut de France in 1891.
