Lucien Henry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1850-05-22)May 22, 1850 |
| Died | March 10, 1896(1896-03-10) (aged 45) |
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Lucien Félix Henry (22 May 1850 - 10 March 1896), was a French painter, who was active inSydney.[2]
A socialist, he was part of theParis Commune. He is often confused with Fortuné Henry, anotherCommunard, in many historical works on the commune.
Lucien Henry arrived in Paris in 1867 to take courses infine arts and studied underViollet-le-Duc before studying withJean-Léon Gérôme.[3] A militant socialist and a member of theFirst International, he contributed to the newspaper La Resistance. During theFranco-Prussian war and thesiege of Paris (1870-1871) he was a member of theNational Guard. On March 11, 1871, he was elected leader of the legion of the14th arrondissement and became “Colonel Henry”. On April 3, he took part in theexit from Châtillon (Battle of Meudon), where the communards were defeated by the forces of theThird Republic. During this unfortunate offensive he was arrested, and sentenced to death in 1872, but the sentence was commuted to deportation toNew Caledonia.
Granted amnesty in 1878, he moved toAustralia in June 1879, the year ofSydney International Exhibition. In 1880, he married another exile, Juliette Rastoul née Lopez.[4] In Sydney, Henry became known as a painter and teacher. The stained glass windows inSydney Town Hall[5] were an important work. He became an art teacher at theSydney Technical College, and took a uniquely Australian approach to the decorative arts, with the use of motifs inspired by local flora and fauna such asTelopea (waratah). Returning to France in 1891 in search of a publisher for a collection of his Australian watercolors, he died in 1896 in the hamlet of Le Pavé inSaint-Léonard-de-Noblat where he was buried.
Some of his work is held in theArt Gallery of New South Wales,[1][6] and some 204 works are held at thePowerhouse Museum,[7] including works with native flora motifs.[8]
