Jean-Jacques Henner (1829-1905) - Rêverie

There is an inscription on the back of the frame in blue chalk #4373
Madame Isabelle de Lannoy confirms the authenticity of the painting which will be included in volume 3 of the catalogue raisonné of this painting in the process of being painted

Oil on canvas
H. 19.7 x W. 25.2 inches (With frame: H. 29.5 x W. 35.4 inches)

Jean-Jacques Henner was a French painter born in Bernwiller (Haut-Rhin) on March 5th, 1829.
Henner took his first drawing classes at Altkirch Middle School with Charles Goutzwiller from 1841-1843, and then trained at the studio of Gabriel-Christophe Guérin in Strasbourg.
In 1858, he was awarded the Prix de Rome for his composition Adam and Eve Found the Body of Abel. This gave him the opportunity to have access to the Medici Villa in Rome for five years (1858-1864).
Back in France in 1864, Henner settled permanently in Paris. He moved in 1867 to an art studio in Place Pigalle where he frequented Pierre Puvis de Chavannes who lived in the same building as him. Henner started his career at the Salon successfully and was able to cumulate orders for portraits. The State also purchased some of his artworks. He received numerous medals from Salons like at the Salon of 1865 and at Expositions universelles. Henner was elected as a member at the Académie des beaux-arts in 1889.
He became known and popular from his patriotic painting, L’Alsace, elle attend, which he painted in 1871 after the French defeat. In 1903, he became grand officier of the Légion d'honneur.
Henner is the creator of artworks that have been abundantly presented in many museums. He has a reputation of being a well-liked portraitist and drawer. He is best known for his numerous nudes of female figures with pale skin, red hair, and languid poses.
After a life devoted to painting, he died in 1905 in Paris.

Our painting represents the talent of the artist. In Jean-Jacques Henner’s paintings, the nude figure and the landscape are usually hard to differentiate: the red hair lures the viewer’s eye to the voluptuous naked and languid woman while the amber color also captures the eye so that the viewer gets lost in the romantic landscape. Combining idealization, realism, and romanticism, this painting encompasses sensuality and takes the viewer to an ideal universe very similar to his painting, Idylle, which is kept in the Musée d’Orsay.

Museums:
Paris, Musée d’Orsay
Paris, Musée National Jean-Jacques Henner
Paris, Musée du Petit Palais
Québec, Musée national des Beaux-Arts
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art

Bibliography:
E. Bénézit, édition Gründ, Tome VI, pages 898 – 899.