Jacques-Antoine-Marie Lemoine
Encyclopedia
Jacques-Antoine-Marie Lemoine, also Lemoyne (17 July 1751–7 February 1824), was a French artist, known primarily for portraiture
.
Lemoine was born in Rouen
. He declined to follow his father's precedent in becoming a notary
, and instead began study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. Having moved to Paris by 1772, he studied under Jean-Jacques Lagrenée
(1737–1821) and Maurice-Quentin de la Tour (1704–1788). He was attracted to Parisian theater and music, and early in his career often portrayed actors, singers, and musicians, using pastels and chalk. He also worked in oil
, watercolor, and porcelain
. In the late 1770s or early 1780s, he may have sketched for fashion plate
s.
In 1783, Lemoine married the artist Agathe-Françoise Bonvallet. He began his work as a miniaturist in the mid-1780s. His early miniatures are influenced by the "free and painterly technique" of Pierre-Adolphe Hall. In 1785, he painted Louise Benoît Zamor
, the page
of Madame du Barry
and later revolutionary
. The portrait is one piece of evidence for Zamor's African origin.
Lemoine invented a perspective
easel
for use in landscape painting, and another device to help create likenesses in portraiture. He also collected texts on geometry
and perspective in relation to design
and painting.
Lemoine's wife died in 1794, and he returned to Rouen, where he was appointed professor of drawing at the École de Marine in 1799. After 1798, he produced few works, but kept a pied-à-terre in Paris and continued to exhibit at the Salons through 1817. He died at his home in Paris, and bequeathed his manuscript collection to the state.
Germaine Greer
points out that because Marie-Victoire Lemoine
sometimes signed her works "Lemoine," the works of the two artists may sometimes be misattributed.
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
.
Lemoine was born in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. He declined to follow his father's precedent in becoming a notary
Civil law notary
Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers with the authentication power of the State...
, and instead began study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. Having moved to Paris by 1772, he studied under Jean-Jacques Lagrenée
Jean-Jacques Lagrenée
Jean-Jacques Lagrenée , known as the younger, was a French history painter and engraver. With his elder brother Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, he stayed in Russia then at the Académie de Rome ....
(1737–1821) and Maurice-Quentin de la Tour (1704–1788). He was attracted to Parisian theater and music, and early in his career often portrayed actors, singers, and musicians, using pastels and chalk. He also worked in oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, watercolor, and porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
. In the late 1770s or early 1780s, he may have sketched for fashion plate
Fashion plate
A fashion plate is an illustration demonstrating the highlights of fashionable styles of clothing. Fashion plates are not depictions of specific people, but are instead generalized portraits, meant only to dictate the style of clothes that a tailor, dressmaker, or store could make or sell, or to...
s.
In 1783, Lemoine married the artist Agathe-Françoise Bonvallet. He began his work as a miniaturist in the mid-1780s. His early miniatures are influenced by the "free and painterly technique" of Pierre-Adolphe Hall. In 1785, he painted Louise Benoît Zamor
Zamor
Zamor was a French revolutionary of Bengali origin, who as a boy of eleven, was picked from Chittagong by slave traders and sold to Countess du Barry who nurtured and educated him...
, the page
Page (servant)
A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
of Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
and later revolutionary
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The portrait is one piece of evidence for Zamor's African origin.
Lemoine invented a perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
easel
Easel
An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it.-Etymology:The word is an old Germanic synonym for donkey...
for use in landscape painting, and another device to help create likenesses in portraiture. He also collected texts on geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and perspective in relation to design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and painting.
Lemoine's wife died in 1794, and he returned to Rouen, where he was appointed professor of drawing at the École de Marine in 1799. After 1798, he produced few works, but kept a pied-à-terre in Paris and continued to exhibit at the Salons through 1817. He died at his home in Paris, and bequeathed his manuscript collection to the state.
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
points out that because Marie-Victoire Lemoine
Marie-Victoire Lemoine
Marie-Victoire Lemoine was a French painter. Born in Paris, where she also died, she was a student of François-Guillaume Ménageot, and took part in numerous Salons. Her sisters Marie-Denise Villers and Marie-Élisabeth Gabiou also became painters.-References:...
sometimes signed her works "Lemoine," the works of the two artists may sometimes be misattributed.
Further reading
- Neil Jeffares, "Jacques-Antoine-Marie Lemoine (1751–1824)," Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 6, 133 (1999) 61–136.
- Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, Presumed Portrait of Mademoiselle Duthé with Her Harp, object information and image - Collections of the LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, works by Lemoine.