Henri Serrur (1794-1876) - People's woman of Venice

Henri Auguste Cesar SERRUR
(Lambersart, 1794 – Lille, 1876)

People's Woman of Venice

Oil on canvas
Signed, located and dated
65 x 60 cm
Venice 1850

Exhibitions:
- Paris Salon of 1850 under number 2806
- La Rochelle Salon of 1853 under number 205

Henri Serrur was born on February 8, 1794 in the north of France in Lambersart.

A studious child, at the age of eighteen he made a copy after the Van Dyck of the Museum of Lille which caught the attention of art lovers in the North and in particular of the mayor of Lille at the time, the Count of Brigode. who obtained a pension from the municipal council to enable him to go to Paris and complete his training there.
Entered the studio of Baron Regnault, his beginnings were brilliant; he won several prizes for composition and that of the head of expression.
In 1817, the artist was received in the box and competed for the Prix de Rome, which was obtained so brilliantly by Mr. Léon Cogniet.
He also exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1819 until 1850. He was also rewarded several times, including a 3rd class medal in 1836 and a second-class medal in 1837.
A neo-classical painter, Henri Serrur specialized in historical scenes and produced several portraits, including that of King Charles X.
Renowned as a fine connoisseur of the Venetian schools, he was sent in 1846 to the city of the Doges by the French government to make various copies of famous paintings, including that of the Assumption by Titian. This copy was then unanimously hailed as being itself a masterpiece. It is very likely during this Venetian journey that the artist produced a sketch of our painting which took a definitive form a few years later in an elegant ethnographic portrait which he presented at the Paris Salon in 1850.

The artist died in Lille on March 31, 1876 following a long and painful illness.

Museums: Lille, Douai, Avignon, Paris (Palace of Lux.), Rennes, Versailles, Valenciennes…