Summary
Hugues Merle (1822–1881) was a French painter who mostly depicted sentimental or moral subjects. He has often been compared to William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
Hugues Merle | |
|---|---|
 The First Thorns of Knowledge (Les premières épines de la science), 1864, Dallas Museum of Art | |
| Born | April 28, 1822 La Sône, France |
| Died | 1881 (aged 58–59) |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Painting |
| Children | Georges Merle |
Biography edit
Hugues Merle was born in 1822 in La Sône.[1] He studied painting with Léon Cogniet. Merle started exhibiting at the Salon (Paris) in 1847. He received second class prizes in 1861 and 1863.[2] In 1866 he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
Hugues Merle became a friend of Paul Durand-Ruel in the early 1860s. Durand-Ruel had started buying paintings by Merle in 1862 and introduced the artist to painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.[3] Merle was later often compared to Bouguereau and “became a considerable rival of Bouguereau in subject and treatment”.[4] In the mid-1860s, Merle painted several portraits of Paul Durand-Ruel, his wife, and their son, John.
Hugues Merle died in 1881 in Paris. His son Georges Merle also became a painter.[5]
Influence edit
David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks TV series character the Log Lady resembles Hugues Merle's painting The Lunatic of Étretat (1871).[6]
Gallery edit
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Maternal Affection -
The Embroidery Lesson -
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The Storyteller -
Maternal Love -
Thoughts of the Future -
Mother and Child, c. 1864. Clark Art Institute -
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L'abandonnée -
Les Orphelines -
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Mother and Child, c. 1869. Clark Art Institute
References edit
- ^ (in French)Mairie de La Sône, registre année 1822, naissance, n°5 (Michaël Vottero, « Hugues Merle (1822-1881) Peinture de genre et marché de l'art sous le Second Empire », Bulletin de la société de l'histoire de l'art français, 2011, p. 145-216, note 2).
- ^ Zafran, Eric (1984). European Art in the High Museum.
- ^ Whiteley, Linda (1979). Accounting for Tastes. Oxford Art Journal. p. 26.
- ^ Stranahan, C.H. (1917). A History of French Painting. p. 398.
- ^ Birmingham Museum of Art (2010). Birmingham Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection. London: Giles. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-904832-77-5. Archived from the original on 2011-09-10. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
- ^ https://www.macguffinmagazine.com/stories/macguffin-log-lady
Bibliography edit
- European Art in the High Museum, by Eric M. Zafran, Atlanta, 1984
- "Accounting for Tastes", by Linda Whiteley, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 2, Art and Society (Apr., 1979), pp. 25–28
Media related to Hugues Merle at Wikimedia Commons