Jeanne Rij-Rousseau

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Jeanne Rij-Rousseau(June 10, 1870 in Candé-October 22, 1956 in Savigny-sur-Braye) was a French painter and an art theoretician.

Rij-Rousseau was a Cubist painter. From 1890 on, she lived in Paris and moved in an artistic circle with painters of the "Ile de la Grande Jatte" in Montmartre. She was a student of Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier. She took on Sérusier's ideas on the coherence between music and painting. Her theory of vibrism, which is a middle course between Synthetic Cubism of pre-war time and Larionov and Goncharova's Rayonism, evolved from them.

She was united to Juan Gris in a life-long and intimate friendship. From 1911 on, Rij-Rousseau exhibited her works in Salon d'Automne, Salon des Indépendants and Salon Tuileries. In 1920, she was a member of the artist circle called Section d'Or.

Many trips led her to South France, especially to Céret to the Avantgarde artists, but also to Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Her paintings were displayed in Zurich, Brussels, New York, and Boston. In Aubusson and Beauvais' manufactories large-size tapestries designed by her were produced. In 1925, she was awarded a gold medal for one of them in the first Arts Décoratifs' exhibition. Apollinaire named her a "searcher", Florent Fels and André Salmon admired the effect of the colours she chose.

Also in 1925, Rij-Rousseau founded the Association of Modern-Age Female Painters. Some exhibitions followed, among others also with Suzanne Duchamp and Marie Laurencin. Aside from Colette, Rij-Rousseau's biography was published in the book, "Führende Frauen Europas" by Elga Kern as a representative of French art.

However, her fame did not last long. She died lonely, impoverished and forgotten in her great-niece's house in the provinces. No further attention had been taken of her final exhibition in Chateau de Blois in 1959. The whereabouts of these 70 exhibited paintings are still unknown. Her estate has been scattered throughout the world. Paintings are trafficked in N.Y., Chicago, London, and Paris. Some works are in Parisan museums, in Blois, and in Grenoble, but especially in private collectors' homes. Research on this painting of the French Modern Age is still in its beginnings.

Literature:

Elga Kern. Führende Frauen Europas. Ernst Reinhardt Verlag München 1930

Cécile Debray/Françoise Lucbert. La Section d'or. Edition Cercle d'Art. Paris 2000