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April 29th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
Alongside William-Adolphe Bouguereau, his lifetime competitor, Joseph Lefebvre is one of the most celebrated artists from turn-of-the-century France. His depictions of women as romantic and allegorical subjects are just as amazing as Bouguereau’s who, as I said once, should be considered one of the forefathers of contemporary hyper-realism. Unfortunately enough, just like in Bouguereau’s case, Lefebvre’s personal life was also stricken by tragedy.
Lefebvre is also known for having been an excellent and sympathetic teacher who numbered many upcoming American artists among his 1,500 or more pupils. Also the female students’ respect for Lefebvre at the Académie Julian was pretty well known (I can only imagine why). Lefebvre emphasized the importance of drawing as the foundation for painting, and encouraged his students to hone their skills by constantly sketching from live models.
My favourite paintings by J.J. Lefebvre (among many) are Allégorie de la Victoire (date unknown), Woman Playing a Lute (1879), Young Woman with Morning Glories in Her Hair (date unknown), Graziella, A Pensive Moment (1886) but above all the masterful Lady Godiva (1891) in my opinion one of the best depictions of the famous story alongside John Collier’s version from 1897.
Next are some extracts of Lefebvre’s biography which can be found at REHS Galleries Inc. website.
Biography
Born on 14 March 1836 in the small town of Tournan, Jules-Joseph Lefebvre grew up primarily in nearby Amiens where his father owned a bakery. Young Lefebvre’s artistic skills were evident at an early age. With his father’s support, he sought, and won, a five-year fellowship of 1000 francs annually from the City of Amiens. This enabled him to move to Paris in 1852 where he began his art education in the studio of Léon Cogniet, a neoclassical history painter. Although only 16 years old at the time, Lefebvre was soon admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Cogniet’s auspices. Within three years, in 1855, he made his debut at the annual Paris Salon.
Lefebvre’s success at the Ecole encouraged him to pursue the coveted Prix de Rome. His 1859 entry for the competition resulted in a second place award, but two years later, he won the prestigious first place prize with his painting of The Death of Priam. The subject, based on Homer’s Illiad, reflected the profound influence of Lefebvre’s academic training.
Unfortunately, Lefebvre’s years in Rome were disrupted by the death of his parents and one of his sisters. Not surprisingly, such a significant loss sent him into a debilitating depression. By the time he returned to Paris in 1867, however, he had come to terms with his grief, and began to concentrate on establishing a career as one of France’s leading painters. This new determination met with immediate success at the 1868 Salon where Reclining Nude received critical kudos; his two 1869 submissions, Diana Awakening and Portrait of Alexandre Dumas, were equally well received. The culmination of this public acclaim occurred in 1870 when Lefebvre’s painting of La Vérité (Truth) attracted rave reviews from both the critics and the public.
Lefebvre continued to paint nude female figures, depicting Mary Magdalene (1876), Pandora (1877), Diana (1879), and many others. Lefebvre also solidified his reputation as a portrait painter during the 1870s.
Lefebvre’s contribution to the development of late nineteenth-century art also took the form of teaching. Beginning in 1870, he became a professor at the Académie Julian, founded in 1868 by Rodolphe Julian as an art school open to both women and men as well as to foreigners. A description of his own process from the Salon of 1894 might well be an echo of the directions he offered students.
“Nothing in nature is ever exactly the same, not even two leaves from the same tree. Monsieur Lefebvre, taking this rule as his guiding principle, finds a fresh approach in every portrait he undertakes. For him, no one person resembles another. He varies his approach with every model according to the inspiration offered by the model.”
Following the horror of the Paris Commune in 1871, Lefebvre moved his studio to 5 Rue de la Bruyère at edge of Montmartre, not far from the Académie Julian. In 1878, he received a First Class medal at the Salon, and in 1886, he won the Medal of Honor. At the extravaganza of the 1889 Exposition Universelle celebrating France’s centennial as a republic, he won the Grand Prix award.
Two years later, at age 55, he was named a member of the Institut de France, the governing body of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. From his unpretentious origins as a baker’s son, Lefebvre achieved unimagined success as a painter. His career was crowned in 1898 when he was named a commandeur of the Legion of Honor. He died in Paris on 25 February 1911 at age 78.
Sources: REHS Galleries Inc, The Eclectic Light Company and wikipedia.
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