Henry Lerolle

Henry Lerolle (October 3, 1848 - April 22, 1929) was French painter, art collector and patron, born in Paris. He studied at Académie Suisse and in the studio of Louis Lamothe.

His work was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1868, 1885, and 1895. In 1889 Lerolle painted the murals "The Crowning of Science" and "The Teaching of Science" in the Hôtel de Ville, Paris. He painted "Flight into Eygpt", in the Sorbonne and also did works in Schola Cantorum (the establishment of which he was involved), and the church of St. Martin des Champs, both in Paris. Lerolle was awarded Chevalier, Légion d'honneur in 1889 [Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). "Catalogue of the Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". New York: The Museum, 1902.] .

Lerolle's paintings are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Musée d'Orsay and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

Patronage

Lerolle owned several canvases by Maurice Denis including "Catholic Mysytery", and is considered to be Denis's first important patron. In fact, Denis claimed that Lerolle "discovered him." In 1892 Lerolle commissioned Denis to paint a ceiling mural for his home entitled "L'Echelle dans le Feuillage" ("Ladder in the Foliage"). Additionally, Lerolle was a friend and patron to Degas and Renoir, the latter of whom painted several portraits of Lerolle's daughters and of [http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/display_image.php?id=51636 Lerolle himself] . Lerolle also owned works by Fantin-Latour (who painted [http://www.clevelandart.org/explore/work.asp?searchText=madame+lerolle&recNo=0&tab=2&display= Lerolle's wife] , Madeleine Escudier), Corot, and others.

Madame Lerolle's sister, Jeanne, was married to the composer Ernest Chausson and the Lerolle home, at 20, avenue Duquesne [Simeone, Nigel. "Paris--a Musical Gazetteer". New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.] was a meeting place not only for artists, but also musicians of the day including Vincent d'Indy, Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas. Having met via Lerolle, Chausson also commissioned works by Maurice Denis. Lerolle was also a violinist and composer.

Debussy dedicated several piano works to Lerolle's daughter Yvonne (b.1877) including three "Images" in 1894. [Smith, Richard Langham. "Debussy Studies". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.]

External links to works by Lerolle

* [http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_paintings/The_Organ_Rehearsal/viewObject.aspx?&OID=110001324&PgSz=1 "The Organ Rehearsal" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.]
* [http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=30926&coll_keywords=lerolle&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_
]
* [http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/resultat-collection.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bzoom%5D=0&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BxmlId%5D=020685&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bback%5D=en%2Fcollections%2Findex-of-works%2Fresultat-collection.html%3Fno_cache%3D1%26zsz%3D9 "Portrait of the Artist's Mother" at Musée d'Orsay]
* [http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/resultat-collection.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bzoom%5D=0&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BxmlId%5D=078181&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bback%5D=en%2Fcollections%2Findex-of-works%2Fresultat-collection.html%3Fno_cache%3D1%26zsz%3D9 "Après le bain" at Musée d'Orsay]

ee also

*Les Nabis

Notes

References

*Groom, Gloria Lynn, Nicholas Watkins, Jennifer Paoletti, and Therese Barruel. "Beyond the Easel: Decorative Paintings by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Roussel, 1890-1930". Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000.
*Kellogg, D. O., T. Spencer Baynes, and W. Robertson Smith. "The Encyclopaedia Britannica; Latest Edition. A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature". New York: Werner, 1902.
*Manet, Julie, Rosalind de Boland Roberts, and Jane Roberts. "Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet". London: Sotheby's Publications, 1987.
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-lerolle-1"Henry Lerolle." The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, Inc., 2002.]