Louise Hervieu | |
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 Louise Hervieu in 1936 | |
| Born | 26 October 1878 |
| Died | 11 September 1954(1954-09-11) (aged 75) |
Louise Hervieu (French pronunciation:[lwizɛʁvjø]; 26 October 1878 – 11 September 1954) was a French writer, artist, painter, draftsman, andlithographer.
Syphilitic of birth, of very fragile health, Louise Hervieu revealed a gift for drawing from her childhood. Discouraged after the failure of her unique exhibition of paintings in oil in 1910, she abandoned painting in favour of drawing and lithography. She illustratedles Fleurs du mal andle Spleen de Paris byBaudelaire. She published collections of drawings and novels that she embellished with her illustrations. She was close to the painterEdmond-Marie Poullain [fr], with whom she travelled several times toBréhal. In 1915, the weakening of her sight forced her to go from colour to black and white. A refinedvalorist, her technique of drawing in the wash or charcoal was characterized by the removal of certain parts of the surface of the work to obtain clear nuances by making the white of the paper reappear.
One of her works,le Bon Vouloir, was crowned by theAcadémie française and another one,Sangs, was awarded theprix Femina in 1936. This award allowed her to give great publicity to the battle she led throughout her life against this scourge that made her suffer constantly.
It is to Louise Hervieu that is also owed the attribution, obtained from a hard struggle in 1938, of a "health notebook", by the public authorities, to every newborn child, and in which would have been inscribed the antecedents of the parents, then all the care, all the diseases of the child, and then of the adult until his/her death, to serve in turn to keep his/her children and grandchildren healthy.
The Association Louise Hervieu for the establishment of the health notebook, was created for this purpose. On 1 June 1939, finally, a ministerial decree instituted the health card for the use of French citizens. This notebook unfortunately only had an ephemeral existence.
A retrospective of her works with those ofSuzanne Valadon andMarie-Anne Camax-Zoegger [fr] was organised at theMusée Galliera of Paris, in 1961.
The rue Louise Hervieu, a street in the12th arrondissement of Paris, pays homage to her. A commemorative plaque is placed onrue du Cherche Midi [fr] in the6th arrondissement of Paris, at number 55, where she lived.
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