| A Session of the Painting Jury | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Henri Gervex |
| Year | c. 1883 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 300 cm × 419 cm (120 in × 165 in) |
| Location | Musée d'Orsay,Paris |
A Session of the Painting Jury is anoil on canvas painting by the French artistHenri Gervex, probably fromc. 1883. The painting, a piece of official art during theThird Republic, shows a meeting of the painting jury of theSalon, the official exhibition of theAcadémie des Beaux-Arts, in 1883.[1][2][3]
The picture shows a room on the first floor of thePalais de l'Industrie.[2] Shown in it are numerous identifiable artists of the time, who are involved in judging the works of art shown.Charles Louis Borgmeyer identified and specified the location of 28 artists:
The person in the first plane, seated and seen from the back isHector Leroux.Maignan sits at his left, with his arm over the back of his chair.Vollon votes by raising his umbrella, the handle in the air.Carolus-Duran at the left, is looking at the picture and not voting.Rapin, with a light overcoat, votes with his cane raised; between him and Carolus-Duran one can see the heads ofBusson, the lost profile ofJules Lefebvre and the nose and mustache ofGuillemet. Back of Carolus-Duran, a little further away, standsHarpignies looking at a picture; at the right and nearer the front standsCabanel looking at the picture of the nude twisting her hair, that the jury is voting on. Then nearer Vollon (the man with raised umbrella) areBouguereau andHenner's shoulders; at the right of Vollon, grouped in front of a frame, areBarrias,Robert-Fleury and back of him again, to the left, is part ofJean-Paul Laurens;Bonnat andFrançais (wearing a round felt hat); back of him,Duez, with another umbrella, one eye and the wavy hair ofPille. At the left, where two attendants in blouses take notes, is a group made up ofVuillefroy, sitting, andHumbert,Cormon andBenjamin-Constant. In the background isRoll, talking with Gervex himself, andPuvis de Chavannes,Cazin andProtais.[4]
The painting's page at the Musée d'Orsay website reiterates all the names given by Borgmeyer and also listsEdouard Detaille,Gustave Guillaumet,Evariste Vital Luminais,Alphonse de Neuville, andEugène Lavieille.[2]
In the latter half of the 19th century the Salon was an important and popular institution. The French state would acquire some of the paintings shown in the salon's exhibition, which would be hung in theMusée du Luxembourg.[5]
The painting was exhibited in the Salon in 1885 and was subsequently acquired byPierre Waldeck-Rousseau, who later became thePrime Minister of France.[2][6] Waldeck-Rousseau gave the painting to the Musée du Luxembourg in 1892. It subsequently spent time in theLouvre and theSaint-Denis Museum, Reims, before being assigned to theMusée d'Orsay, Paris, in 1981, where it is still held.[2]
