Quiet rooms and yellow upholstery - selected paintings by René-François-Xavier Prinet

 

Salon de famille, circa 1905.

Jeune femme à la lecture.

La Tricoteuse.

Elégante sur un canapé, 1886 (?).

Nu allongé.

Le Canapé jaune, 1904.

Au salon à Luxeuil, réunion chez les Desgranges.

Circa 1920.

Les Deux amies, before 1922.

Femme à son secrétaire, 1928.

La lecture, before 1914.

Les Deux soeurs (Edith and Helene Taillefer de Laportalière), 1929-32.

Portrait de la famille Saglio, before 1908.

I apologize for the spotty inclusion of titles and dates; I did try!

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René-François-Xavier Prinet (31 December 1861, Vitry-le-François - 26 January 1946, Bourbonne-les-Bains), French painter and illustrator. He was the son of an Imperial Prosecutor, whose promotion brought about the family's move to Paris, where they lived in a home not far from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He was supported in his desire to study art and, around 1880, he began his studies in earnest, first in the studios of Jean-Léon Gérôme, where he remained for five years. In 1885, his painting "The Infant Jesus" was accepted for display at the Salon. This was followed by studies at the Académie Julian. Later, he was named a professor at the École Nationale, where he created and directed their first workshop for female artists. In 1891, he received a commission from the government to create decorations in the Palais de la Légion d'honneur; he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1900. His best known work, "The Kreutzer Sonata", first exhibited at the Salon of 1901, was purchased by Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. He produced his first illustrations in 1909 and, over the course of his career, he would illustrate works by Balzac, Pierre Loti, Anatole France, and Henri Bataille, among many others. In 1913, he was appointed Secretary for the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and travelled to the United States, serving on the jury for an exhibition at Carnegie Mellon University; he also presented several works then, and again in 1920. In 1943, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In addition to painting, he wrote two texts, Initiation à la peinture, in 1935, and Initiation au dessin.