Hugues Merle

Hugues Merle

'The First Thorns of Knowledge' (Les premières épines de la science), 1864, Dallas Museum of Art
Born 1823 (1823)
Saint Martin, France
Died 1881 (aged 57–58)
Paris, France
Nationality French
Field Painting

Hugues Merle (1823–1881) was a 19th-century French painter. He mostly depicted sentimental or moral subjects. He has often been compared with William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Biography

Hugues Merle was born in 1823 in Saint Martin. He studied painting with Léon Cogniet. Merle started exhibiting at the Salon (Paris) in 1847. He received second class prices in 1861 and 1863.[1] In 1966 he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Hugues Merle became a friend of Paul Durand-Ruel's in the early 1860s. Durand-Ruel had started buying paintings by Merle in 1862 and introduced Merle to William-Adolphe Bouguereau.[2] Merle would then often be compared to Bouguereau and even “became a considerable rival of Bouguereau in subject and treatment”.[3] In the mid 1860s, Merle painted several portraits of Paul Durand-Ruel, his wife and their son, John. Hugues Merle died in 1881 in Paris. His son Georges Merle, was also a painter.[4]

References

  1. ^ Zafran, Eric (1984). European Art in the High Museum. 
  2. ^ Whiteley, Linda (1979). Accounting for Tastes. Oxford Art Journal. p. 26. 
  3. ^ Stranahan, C.H. (1917). A History of French Painting. p. 398. 
  4. ^ Birmingham Museum of Art (2010). Birmingham Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection. London: Giles. pp. 142. ISBN 9781904832775. http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html. Retrieved 2011-06-27. 

Bibliography