Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic
Encyclopedia
Vicomte Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic (1839-1889) was a French artist, archaeologist and patron of the arts. He is best remembered today as a friend of Edgar Degas
, who included him in some eleven paintings and pastels. He was among the original Impressionist group and later became a recognised marine painter.
, from whom the title had descended. His father was Louis-Joseph Napoléon Lepic, who also followed a military career and was a close supporter of Napoléon III. Destined for a similar career, Ludovic persuaded his father to allow him to train as a painter, originally with Gustave Wappers, the official painter of the Belgian King, and later with the French animal painter Charles Verlat, who encouraged him to take up etching. Much of Lepic’s early work was in this genre and he joined the Société des aquafortistes in 1862. Next year he gained notability for his sentimental etching “For the Poor”, after which he undertook further training from Charles Gleyre and the academic artist Alexandre Cabanal.
In the next few years he took up archaeology and between 1869-76 was a member of the Société d’anthropologie de Paris. In 1872, he founded a museum at Aix-les-Bains
and published a ground-breaking illustrated work on prehistoric tools, Les armes et les outils préhistoriques reconstitués. His experiments with etching during this time were equally innovatory and he developed the technique of ‘variable etching’ (eau-forte mobile) where, by varying the ink on the plate, he was able to produce individual results at each printing. He was to teach this technique to his old friend Edgar Degas
and the two co-operated on Degas’ “The Ballet Master” of 1874.
Lepic and Degas were friends as young men with similar interests and were to co-operate in other ways too. It was Degas who persuaded Lepic to help plan and participate in the first two Impressionist exhibitions, but insistence by the group that he should not exhibit at the same time in the official Salon led Lepic to distance himself from them. During this time he had bought himself a boat and from 1877 paid annual visits to the town of Berck
, south of Le Touquet, which was an artistic haven also for other artists on the fringes of Impressionism such as Edouard Manet
and Eugene Boudin
. It is for his depictions of the beach and fishing boats there that Lepic is particularly remembered as a painter today. In 1883 he achieved recognition by being appointed an official marine painter
by the state, following his growing popularity after the award of a medal at the 1877 Salon. In 1879, he had a large individual exhibition of some 100 pictures at the Gallery “La vie moderne” and in 1883 he exhibited 150 at the Musée des Arts décoratifs. In between he had published an illustrated account of an archaeological trip to Egypt, La dernière Egypte (1881).
The appearance of Lepic in several works by Degas records some of the enthusiasms they had in common. These included horse racing and Degas’ Gentlemen’s Race: Before the Start (Musée d’Orsay, 1862) pictures Lepic mounted among the jockeys. Ballet was another enthusiasm. Lepic is shown gazing through opera glasses in the Metropolitan Museum’s “The ballet from Robert le Diable” (1871), one of Degas’ earliest treatments of the subject, and in quarter profile from behind in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s larger copy (1876). Lepic’s fondness for dogs, evidenced by his many etchings, resulted in Degas’ final pastel of Lepic holding one in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1889). Earlier he had included another dog in the amusing Place de la Concorde
, in which the elegantly dressed and cigar-smoking Viscount strides to the right, an umbrella under his arm, while his two daughters and the dog all face the other way. Earlier still the daughters appeared on either side of their father in the intimate pastel Count Lepic and His Daughters
(1870).
Notwithstanding his marriage in 1865 with Joséphine Scévole de Barral, the mother of these daughters, Lepic was later to take the prima ballerina Marie Sanlaville
as his mistress and designed dresses for the ballets in which she danced, including the Harlequin costume for Les Jumeaux de Bergame. Degas was also to sketch this while it was in rehearsal in 1885. In 1889 he was suddenly taken ill and Marie Sanlaville cared for him at her apartment until his death in October. He was then interred in the vault at the family property at Andrésy.
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, who included him in some eleven paintings and pastels. He was among the original Impressionist group and later became a recognised marine painter.
Life and Career
Vicomte Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic was the grandson of the Napoleonic general Louis LepicLouis Lepic
Louis Lepic, count, was a French commander of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, who eventually rose to the rank of général de division and held the prestigious command of the Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale, the senior heavy cavalry regiment of the Imperial Guard.-Early...
, from whom the title had descended. His father was Louis-Joseph Napoléon Lepic, who also followed a military career and was a close supporter of Napoléon III. Destined for a similar career, Ludovic persuaded his father to allow him to train as a painter, originally with Gustave Wappers, the official painter of the Belgian King, and later with the French animal painter Charles Verlat, who encouraged him to take up etching. Much of Lepic’s early work was in this genre and he joined the Société des aquafortistes in 1862. Next year he gained notability for his sentimental etching “For the Poor”, after which he undertook further training from Charles Gleyre and the academic artist Alexandre Cabanal.
In the next few years he took up archaeology and between 1869-76 was a member of the Société d’anthropologie de Paris. In 1872, he founded a museum at Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is situated on the shore of Lac du Bourget, by rail north of Chambéry.-Geography:...
and published a ground-breaking illustrated work on prehistoric tools, Les armes et les outils préhistoriques reconstitués. His experiments with etching during this time were equally innovatory and he developed the technique of ‘variable etching’ (eau-forte mobile) where, by varying the ink on the plate, he was able to produce individual results at each printing. He was to teach this technique to his old friend Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
and the two co-operated on Degas’ “The Ballet Master” of 1874.
Lepic and Degas were friends as young men with similar interests and were to co-operate in other ways too. It was Degas who persuaded Lepic to help plan and participate in the first two Impressionist exhibitions, but insistence by the group that he should not exhibit at the same time in the official Salon led Lepic to distance himself from them. During this time he had bought himself a boat and from 1877 paid annual visits to the town of Berck
Berck
Berck, sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer, is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France and lies within the Marquenterre regional park, an ornithological nature reserve...
, south of Le Touquet, which was an artistic haven also for other artists on the fringes of Impressionism such as Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
and Eugene Boudin
Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors.Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores...
. It is for his depictions of the beach and fishing boats there that Lepic is particularly remembered as a painter today. In 1883 he achieved recognition by being appointed an official marine painter
Peintre de la Marine
Peintre de la Marine is a title awarded by the minister of defence in France to artists who have devoted their talents to the sea, the French Navy and other maritime subjects...
by the state, following his growing popularity after the award of a medal at the 1877 Salon. In 1879, he had a large individual exhibition of some 100 pictures at the Gallery “La vie moderne” and in 1883 he exhibited 150 at the Musée des Arts décoratifs. In between he had published an illustrated account of an archaeological trip to Egypt, La dernière Egypte (1881).
The appearance of Lepic in several works by Degas records some of the enthusiasms they had in common. These included horse racing and Degas’ Gentlemen’s Race: Before the Start (Musée d’Orsay, 1862) pictures Lepic mounted among the jockeys. Ballet was another enthusiasm. Lepic is shown gazing through opera glasses in the Metropolitan Museum’s “The ballet from Robert le Diable” (1871), one of Degas’ earliest treatments of the subject, and in quarter profile from behind in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s larger copy (1876). Lepic’s fondness for dogs, evidenced by his many etchings, resulted in Degas’ final pastel of Lepic holding one in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1889). Earlier he had included another dog in the amusing Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde (painting)
Place de la Concorde or Viscount Lepic and his Daughters Crossing the Place de la Concorde or Ludovic Lepic and his Daughters is an 1875 oil by Edgar Degas. It depicts the cigar smoking Vicomte Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic, his daughters, and his dog, and a solitary man on the left in Place de la...
, in which the elegantly dressed and cigar-smoking Viscount strides to the right, an umbrella under his arm, while his two daughters and the dog all face the other way. Earlier still the daughters appeared on either side of their father in the intimate pastel Count Lepic and His Daughters
Count Lepic and His Daughters
Count Lepic and His Daughters is an 1870 painting by Edgar Degas. On February 10, 2008, the painting was stolen from Foundation E.G. Bührle in Zürich, Switzerland.Degas also painted Viscount Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic in the 1875 painting, Place de la Concorde....
(1870).
Notwithstanding his marriage in 1865 with Joséphine Scévole de Barral, the mother of these daughters, Lepic was later to take the prima ballerina Marie Sanlaville
Marie Sanlaville
Marie Sanlaville was a leading dancer with the Paris Opéra. She is particularly noted for her association with the artist Edgar Degas, who painted her often and dedicated a rare sonnet to her.-Career:...
as his mistress and designed dresses for the ballets in which she danced, including the Harlequin costume for Les Jumeaux de Bergame. Degas was also to sketch this while it was in rehearsal in 1885. In 1889 he was suddenly taken ill and Marie Sanlaville cared for him at her apartment until his death in October. He was then interred in the vault at the family property at Andrésy.
Sources and further reading
- French Wikipédie
- The Andrésy site
- Cyclopedia of painters and paintings, ed. John Denison Champlin jr., New York 1913, p.65
- A list of national holdings at The French Government site