Joanny DOMER (1833 - id., 1896) Diana's triumph

Joanny Domer, born in Lyon in 1833, is a painter and decorator whose career, although marked by a strong influence from the Académie, is also the fruit of his self-taught approach. After studying briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, Domer turned largely to an independent career, nourishing his work with travel and a constant thirst for artistic experimentation.

In 1860, Domer began exhibiting his work in Lyon and, a few years later, in Paris, where he presented paintings such as Les funérailles de la Vierge (1861), La captivité babylonienne (1864), and a series of drawings such as Polyphème et secret (1870). His works bear a strong imprint of Romanticism and Orientalism, but it is in decorative painting that his talent truly blossoms.

From 1877 onwards, Domer turned away from exhibitions to devote himself to the creation of ambitious decorative projects. One of his major creations is the bozzetto for the ceiling of the grand salon of the Rhône prefecture, entitled Le Triomphe de Diane (1893), a striking example of his monumental work. This bozzetto is a preparatory study for a decorative fresco, a work that fits perfectly into the tradition of 19th-century ornamental ceilings, while demonstrating Domer's ability to combine elements of light, color and composition to create striking visual effects. This work was exhibited at the Salon de Lyon in 1897, testifying to its recognition in the local art scene.

In addition to his painting, Joanny Domer excelled in the art of engraving and lithography, producing works for magazines such as La Revue du Lyonnais. He also created etchings, including a famous Bacchanale, based on one of his paintings, underlining his ability to play with different media.

Domer's decorative art is characterized by elegant frescoes and ceilings. His compositions are luminous, balanced and subtly colored, often combined with a finesse in the treatment of forms and mythological figures, as exemplified by his Triumph of Diana, which illustrates both his aptitude for visual narrative and his mastery of the decorative art codes of his time.

Joanny Domer remains an artist of regional and national renown, recognized for his frescoes and contributions to the decorative arts, even if his work has been somewhat overshadowed by that of other contemporaries.