![]() Rows of cardboard heads, which Detaille himself had painted, bearing wigs, carabineers’ helmets, shakoes, hats decorated with silk cords or feathers, of all kinds and of all countries, were ranged on shelves against one wall. … His palette (immaculate) would be in his hand – his studio was like a military museum. The artist fully dressed, clean-shaven, not a hair out of place, would paint standing before an easel or perched on a step-ladder. Everything was clean, tidy polished ready for parade. A description of the studio given by the novelist Miguel Zamacoïs corresponds with Lemeunier’s image in most but not all respects:Įdouard Detaille’s studio which I visited occasionally, was an exact reflection of the famous military painter’s appearance and way of life. The disordered aspect of the studio may represent an element of artistic license on Lemeunier’s part. Dominating all these items is the enormous canvas only partially worked up, with areas of underdrawing and blocking in clearly discernable. Below this are four large frames each containing multiple monochrome images which might, intriguingly, be photographs. On the wall behind hangs a fragment of Detaille’s own painting of the ‘Distribution of Standards, 14 July 1880’, a work which owing to adverse criticism at the Salon of 1881 the artist cut in pieces, apparently retaining only this portion (currently at Versailles). These are interspersed with artist’s materials including a canvas seen from the rear with its colourman’s stamp, a palette knife, a pot of brushes, several paint tubes, bottles of oil, books, and portfolios of drawings. These include numerous items of military apparel, as well as armour, helmets, a peaked hat, a horse’s bridle and caprison, a short-barrelled flintlock rifle, swords, banners, drums and bugles. The portrait provides an inventory of the props and materials employed in the elaboration of Detaille’s great canvas. Lemeunier’s portrait, which was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1891, is evidently based on an intimate knowledge of Detaille’s studio and working methods. Lemeunier’s portrait of Detaille shows him at work on the monster canvas of ‘Vive l’Empereur!’ exhibited in 1891 at the Cercle de l’Union Artistique and acquired two years later by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In his own work besides portraits, Lemeunier mostly painted scenes from contemporary life, including genre scenes and Paris street scenes. ![]() He became a close friend of Detaille and also worked as an assistant on that artist’s major project for the decoration of the Pantheon in Paris, squaring designs for transfer and collaborating on the execution of the decorative friezes. His works received awards in 18, as also at the Expositions Universelles of 18. By 1888 he was sending work to the Paris Salon and this he continued to do until the year before his death. He there entered the studio of Edouard Detaille while also attending classes given by the painter Amédée Hédin. His talents were recognised by the local authorities who awarded him a two-year scholarlship to pursue his studies in Paris. He was soon taking commissions for portraits from clients in Mayenne. As a young man he started by painting the walls of his parent’s house before supposedly moving on to paint ‘all the walls of the village’. Lemeunier was born in the small Normandy village of Antoigny, 40 km to the north east of Mayenne.
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