In 1865, Henner returned to Paris and installed himself in the house in
the Place Pigalle which he occupied during the rest of his life. This
house is full of memories. It has sheltered, either successively or at
the same time, many illustrious painters: Jules and Victor Dupré,
Théodore Rousseau, Puvis de Chavannes, Boldini, etc. Henner occupied
the lower floor to begin with, but later, after the death of Pils, who
had been living on the second floor, he took the latter's studio,
because the light was better.
And, from the day of his return to Paris, Henner entered upon a life of
unremitting toil and fecundity that never ceased to cause astonishment.
Few painters have left behind them such a volume of productions; his
genre pictures, his landscapes peopled with nymphs are innumerable; as
to his portraits, women's portraits especially, it would require far
more ample limits than those of the present study merely to give a list
of them. And what evokes genuine admiration is the fact that it is
impossible, in the midst of this extraordinary multiplicity of widely
varied works, to find a single one that is not evidently equal to his
best. And this is because Henner, notwithstanding his facility,
bestowed an infinite conscientiousness upon even the least important of
his paintings. He regarded it as dishonesty to produce merely for the
sake of producing, or, to sum it up in a word, to do fake work.
Indefatigable workman that he was, Henner allowed himself few
diversions; his life was as strictly ordered as that of a monk. Always
an early riser, he devoted his mornings to his landscapes and genre
paintings, and his afternoons to his portraits. From four until seven
he was in the habit of receiving a few friends or would bury himself in
a book, for he was a great reader. It was an exceptional thing for him
to dine away from home, and when he went out it was always for the
purpose of visiting the Louvre or some exhibit of paintings. As a
matter of fact, he was never happy away from his studio, that
celebrated studio which he had fitted up with so much taste and
magnificence. It was there, in that artistic and sumptuous setting,
that he executed those innumerable works, whose magnificent flowering
we are about to follow, year by year. It will be impossible for us to
cite them all; we must content ourselves with calling attention only to
the more remarkable.
In 1865, Henner exhibited his _Biblis metamorphosed into a Spring_, one
of his most beautiful paintings. In the midst of a sombre landscape,
the dazzling nudity of the nymph forms a luminous spot, but the
contrasting tones harmonize in a sort of fine and golden atmosphere,
blending into the profound green of the foliage, the porcelain blue of
the sky, and the resplendent whiteness of the flesh. And what
simplicity of means he has used to produce this result! Henner had
profited from the lessons of the great masters; and he was never to
forget them.
The following year came his _Study of a Young Girl_. This time it was
no longer under leafy canopies that the painter chose to place his
model, but in the presence of the immensity of the blue sea. The
success of this painting was very marked and it earned the artist a
medal of the first class. But the painter himself was as severe towards
his own work as the critics had been flattering; he was not satisfied
with it, and when the canvas was once again back in his studio, he
destroyed it. What a pity that such a work should have been lost, but
also what a fine example, and what a rare one, of professional
conscientiousness and integrity!
The work exhibited the following year suffered the same fate. In one of
those crises of discontent which Henner, always severe towards himself,
frequently passed through, he once again ripped up his own work, the
charming painting known as _The Toilet_, which nevertheless had
received nothing but praise while at the Salon.
The public, by which I mean the enlightened public, had now come to
appreciate the talent of the young artist. His reputation was
established, and orders began to come in. Not that he had yet acquired
that world-wide celebrity which was destined to come later, but people
were beginning to understand the originality of his art, which at first
had provoked so much discussion.
[Illustration: PLATE VI.--THE COMTESSE DIANE
(Luxembourg Museum)
This fine portrait of the Comtesse Diane (Mme. de Beausacq) was
executed by Henner at the request of the poet, Sully-Prudhomme,
and bequeathed to the Louvre. But it was necessary that it should
first remain for the prescribed period in the Luxembourg, since no
picture may be admitted into the Louvre until ten years after the
death of its author.]
Besides, Henner was too passionately devoted to his art to concern
himself about money. He always showed the greatest disinterestedness.
Prosperity came to him, ample prosperity, but he did not seek it. It
was the natural recompense of this amazing workman, happily
supplemented by the most extraordinary powers of production. There were
instances when he produced in the space of a few hours pictures that he
sold for twenty-five and thirty thousand francs.
Wealth, however, did not in any way modify either his habits or his
character. He remained throughout his life just as simple, just as
gentle, and just as laborious. This is perhaps the right moment at
which to quote the charming word-portrait of this good and kindly man,
drawn by M. Claude Vento, who knew him well:
"If, by his nature as well as by the vigour of his genius, Henner
deserves to be compared to the Masters of the past, his very physique
suggests that he is a reincarnation of some one of those great artists
of the Renaissance, whose mould had seemingly been broken. Robust,
squarely built, broad of shoulder, with energetic head planted on a
rather stout neck, a countenance strong yet gentle, with features
strongly marked, and hair surmounted by a black velvet cap, does not
Henner as a matter of fact, clad in his velvet jacket over a flannel
shirt, remind us of the portrait of Holbein who was his first
inspiration? His whole personality bears the stamp of frankness and of
kindliness, a kindliness possessing a rather rough exterior, but
actually very rare in quality, as you may see in the depths of his pale
blue eyes, as limpid and clear as the eyes of a little child. There is
an element of naïveté in his sincere face, through which, however, a
deep shrewdness penetrates, a kindliness that is not free from mockery,
when his alert wit detects insincerity, whereupon, behind a mocking
smile, irony leaps to his lips, like fine and delicate arrows, but all
the more stinging for that. But this is not customary. Although, like
all men who have had to struggle, Henner is not readily expansive and
guards himself from the importunate, by his somewhat cold manner, what
a hearty hand-grasp, loyal and true, for his real friends, what a
reassuring smile, lighting up his virile features, when sympathy knocks
at his door! With what unceremonious cordiality he comes in person to
answer the bell and open the door of his studio to the expected
visitor! As a usual rule, Henner talks but little. He listens more than
he talks, and is naturally given to reflection. But whatever he says is
to the point and is well worth listening to. If in his presence the
conversation chances to turn upon art or literature or any other lofty
subject, but more especially art, then the passion latent in him all of
a sudden bursts forth and reveals itself, just as a fire suddenly
blazes up from beneath a pile of ashes, and all the more violently
because it has been so long smouldering. At such times his language is
vivid, highly coloured, vigorous, and full of conviction. The words
come to his lips without effort and flow in a rapid stream. And the
listener realizes that he is in the presence of a truthful nature,
ardent and resolute, a conscientious judge and a great artist, whose
enthusiasms are sincere and whose will is strong and tenacious."
Here we have the complete picture of the man, discreet, laborious,
modest, an enemy of noise and notoriety, and revealing himself to the
public only through his signature unfailingly appended to the lower
margin of his immortal canvases.
The series of them is imposing. At the Exposition of 1867, Henner was
represented by _The Chaste Susannah_, _The Young Bather Asleep_, _The
Reclining Woman_, an admirable masterpiece now in the collection of the
Mulhouse museum, and seven portraits which bore witness to the artist's
prodigious fecundity and to the infinite variety of his talent.
In 1869, he exhibited only two paintings at the Salon, but they were
two gems: _The Woman on the Black Divan_, whose nudity contrasts in
dazzling fashion with the sombre setting of the velvet couch on which
she reposes; and _The Little Writer_, a charming portrait of a child,
who happens to be the artist's own nephew, diligently bending over his
desk. A reproduction of this latter picture will be found among the
plates of the present study.
The following year, in 1870, _The Alsatian Woman_ was exhibited at the
Salon. It was a personification of his native land, Alsace, that he
loved so dearly, and that he represented in this picture in the form of
a vigorous peasant woman with a jovial face, who carries a basket
filled with apples, symbolic of abundance and happiness. At that time,
the storm had not burst over that ill-fated land; and there was nothing
to cause him to foresee it; the Alsatian woman is laughing and
untroubled, unaware of her terrible destiny.
What a contrast was afforded by his next work, _Alsace_, which the
misfortunes of France inspired the ardently French and Alsatian soul of
the artist to produce! What emotion emanates from the woman clad in
mourning, whose features bear the traces of the grief she has suffered
and of the mutilation that has taken place! Nevertheless, ravaged as it
is by sorrow, her face still radiates a serene pride and an
unquenchable hope: the hope of a triumphal revenge and of the return of
France. Henner, alas, died without having seen the fulfilment of the
miracle awaited by him with so much fervour. It is easy to imagine the
success which greeted this picture at the Salon of 1871. Stirred to
their inmost soul, the visitors piously took off their hats and felt a
wave of the artist's patriotic fire pass through them. Gambetta desired
to see the painting, was delighted with it, and promptly purchased it.
After the war, Henner continued, as previously, to pass his annual
vacations at Bernwiller; he could not bring himself to dispense wholly
with his native air; and yet what sadness was now entailed in returning
home, and how changed and wretched he found it under the suspicious and
harassing administration of the conquerors! None the less he could
still revisit the companions of his childhood, his brothers and his
nephews, whom he delighted to receive at all hours in the pretty little
brick house that he had had built on the family property.
In 1872 he exhibited _The Idyll_; it proved to be the biggest success
that he had yet achieved. Two nymphs are beside a fountain, as night
descends; one of the two is playing on a flute, the other with one hand
resting on her hip, as she leans with her other on the fountain rim,
listening. Both are nude, with that warm, vibrant nudity that awakens
memories of the flesh of Giorgione's women, in his _Rural Concert_, and
both are enveloped in the waves of their tawny tresses.
This magnificent painting earned Henner a medal of honour which was
bestowed upon him by acclamation. It is at present in the Museum of the
Luxembourg, where it forms one of the most valued treasures.
To 1874 belong _The Good Samaritan_, also now in the Luxembourg, and
_The Magdalen in the Desert_, which belongs to the museum of Toulouse.
These two pictures, following such a long succession of successful
canvases, earned Henner the Legion of Honour. The modest artist was
profoundly touched by this distinction, which nevertheless he so well
merited.
[Illustration: PLATE VII.--A NAIAD
(Luxembourg Museum)
This is one of the most beautiful of Henner's paintings. What
grace there is in the outstretched body, what suppleness and
vigour in those long and slender limbs, how much beauty in the
face, and what a voluptuous abandonment throughout that white
and amber body in its entirety! The luminous and profound
landscape give an admirable impression of a warm and peaceful
twilight.]
The following year, Henner exhibited _The Naiad_. The nymph, quite
nude, is lying, with one leg extended, the other partly flexed, upon
the grass, beside a stream in which the azure of the sky is mirrored.
She leans her head upon her upraised left arm, and her hair full of
golden gleams forms a diadem of fulvous light around her. The
voluptuous mouth is half open and the eyes have a hint of caresses
floating in their liquid depths. The transparent whiteness of the flesh
seems to sink into the soft carpeting of dense verdure, while under the
massive density of the great trees a discreet and subtle light
penetrates the entire landscape, softening the shadows, refining the
atmosphere, and caressing with its soft radiance the beautiful
outstretched body of the naiad. It was once again the Luxembourg that
secured possession of this incomparable work.
In 1876, Henner essayed an entirely different subject, and a much
severer one, which he nevertheless treated without in any way modifying
his manner: _The Dead Christ_. Always an earnest Christian, Henner
loved religious subjects and he bestowed upon those that he painted all
his artistic power and all the fervour of his faith. In this picture,
he has proved himself the equal of the greatest masters, and he need
have no fear of challenging comparison with the most illustrious
interpreters of the Crucifixion.
There is still another subject of a religious nature that Henner
undertook the following year: _The Head of St. John the Baptist_, a
work of striking realism. At the same Salon, that of 1877, he also
exhibited a pagan subject, _Evening_, representing a woman couched upon
the grass and viewed from behind, completely enveloped in the masses of
her red-gold hair.
Next came _The Naiads_, whose sculpture-like silhouettes are profiled
against the silvered background of a superbly lighted landscape. It was
this canvas which inspired Armand Sylvestre to write a very charming
poem, in which the following lines are included:
By dreaming waters under sleeping skies,
Where nature's bowl entraps the widening stream,
A troupe of naiads, hid from mortal eyes,
Toss to the breeze their tresses' golden sheen.
At the Salon of 1878, Henner was represented by several pictures. To
begin with, there was _Holbein's Wife and Children_, the artist's
tribute to the memory of the by-gone master who had been the source of
his first enthusiasm and first inspiration: furthermore, _The Young
Girl in Black_ and _The Lady with the Umbrella_.
In 1879 came _The Eclogue_, a composition of classic harmony and
beauty. With elbows leaning on the margin of a well, a nymph of
resplendent beauty stands upright in an attitude of reverie. In front
of her, a companion is bending over the mirror-like surface of a stream
which crosses the landscape, and her glowing hair envelops her wholly,
like a mantle of gold. The sombre verdure of the great trees emphasizes
the dazzling whiteness of the two female forms; above and beyond the
foliage, a glimpse of blue sky adds its glad and luminous note.
We must not forget _The Magdalen_, which was the most widely discussed
work exhibited at this Salon. The subject was one of which the artist
was especially fond; he treated it a number of times, and it almost
seemed as though he wanted to prove the variability of a brush that
never repeated itself and of a talent that was continually renewed.
This time the penitent of the Gospel story is crouching in the entrance
to a cave, in an attitude of prayer. In the half shadow cast by the
overhanging rock, the body of the Magdalen radiates brightness, while
ripples of light shimmer through her golden tresses. This beautiful
picture is to be seen to-day in the Petit Palais, in the room reserved
for the works of Henner.
Each succeeding year now brought new masterpieces and new triumphs. Two
paintings were shown in the Salon of 1880: _Sleep_ and _The Fountain_.
The first of these represents a young girl, almost a child, sunken in
profound sleep. Around the face, in its golden frame of hair, the
artist has diffused an aureole of peace, candour, and innocence which
brings to mind some legendary saint. Rarely has the artist achieved
such perfection of line and such beauty of expression. The painting was
purchased by the Prince de Broglie.
In _The Fountain_ we behold a woman, beautiful with the beauty of red
gold, like all of Henner's women. She is resting her hand upon the
margin of a well, and seems to be gazing at her own reflection in the
water.
This same Salon also includes _Andromeda in Chains_, which belongs
to-day to Mme. Raffalowitz.
From time to time Henner reverted to religious paintings, for which,
after the fashion of the great masters of the past, he always retained
a marked fondness. Thus it happened that he exhibited at the Salon of
1881 a _St. Jerome_, a subject all the more venturesome to paint
because many of the most illustrious artists, such as Dürer,
Tintoretto, and Veronese, had treated it before him. Yet Henner might
well challenge comparison with these redoubtable predecessors, and this
picture, now in the Luxembourg, is numbered among his best.
_The Spring_, which figured at the same Salon, inevitably challenges
comparison with the same subject formerly treated by Ingres. Employing
wholly different means, Henner achieved the same degree of perfection
as that attained by the illustrious author of _The Odalisque_. In
Ingres' picture of _The Spring_, the flesh of the young girl has the
freshness of some delicate and fragile fruit; in that of Henner's, it
has the velvety savour of a fruit that is fully ripe. Both paintings
show the same masterly science of line-work, the same impeccable
sureness of execution, and also the same profound sense of virginal
chastity in the nude. Henner's _Spring_ was purchased by an American
for eleven thousand dollars (55,000 francs). This is one of the highest
prices ever paid for the work of a living painter.
In 1882 came _Bara_, of which we give a reproduction in the present
volume, and which is now to be seen in the Petit Palais. This was still
another subject which had been previously treated, and by no less a
master than David! Both painters were equally felicitous in rendering
the charming youthfulness of the small hero who fell so gloriously for
his country. A comparison of the two works is all the more pleasurable
because one discovers that, however dissimilar they may be, they
express the same appreciation of classic beauty and the same reverence
for form.
In 1883 we have _The Woman Reading_, a dazzling poem in blond flesh
that brings to mind Correggio's _Magdalen Reading_, now contained in
the Munich collection. In contrast with the opulence of the above
portrait, we have next a countenance of remarkable gentleness, ideal in
its expression of purity, in the picture entitled _The Nun_. She is
quite young and quite fair, and she is kneeling upon the pavement in
prayer, while her pale girlish face emerges from the sombre frame of
her black garb, like an immaculate lily overgrown with weeds. This time
Henner had surpassed himself; he had interpreted with inimitable
strokes the beauty of renunciation and the purity of an ecstatic life.
This Salon was one of the most glorious that the great artist ever knew.
Nevertheless, it was the very next year that he exhibited _The Weeping
Nymph_, his magnificent nymph prostrate upon the ground, sobbing with
her face in her hands and her whole body writhing with anguish. After
this came _Fabiola_, that superb, virgin profile crowned with a red
cap, which the engraver's art has spread throughout the world in the
form of millions of reprints, until its renown is universal.
In 1886, some more _Nymphs_ and _The Orphan Girl_, treated in the same
manner as _Fabiola_, and forming in a certain sense a companion piece.
Then came _The Creole_, a fascinating woman's head, done in warm flesh
tones, amber-tinted, keenly alive; a picture which the State promptly
acquired. Then, next in order, _Herodiade_, a young girl of fifteen, or
thereabouts, clad in a clinging scarlet tunic, her black eyes gleaming
with a fathomless light.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--THE MAGDALEN WITH THE CRUCIFIX
(Petit Palais des Beaux-Arts)
This is a subject which Henner treated several times. The Magdalen
here reproduced is, beyond all else, a beautiful and robust
creature, whose repentance finds little testimony in her features
that are barely clouded by a faint shadow of melancholy. Yet it is
difficult to conceive of a more delicious study of a woman.]
We need not go further with our catalogue of Henner's works; it would
only necessitate a continual repetition of the same praises and
monotonous descriptions of pictures that the whole world knows, at
least from the engravings of them. Up to the end of his life, the
artist continued to make regular and methodical progress; up to the
end, his talent preserved its vigour and its youth. It even seems as
though in his latest works his light had acquired more transparency,
his foliage a more vibrant warmth, his flesh tones a more dazzling
splendour.
In the course of time, his success had increased, his reputation had
become world-wide. Americans outbid one another for his pictures, and
purchased them at fabulous prices. And together with wealth came
honours. I mean the only kind of honours that would have been welcomed
by this modest and laborious artist, who sought neither the hubbub of
vulgar notoriety, nor the glitter of official functions.
But, with his passionate devotion to painting, which had formed the one
ideal of his life, he was not displeased to see honour paid, through
himself as the medium, to an art that he had constantly striven to
practise with the utmost dignity and the profoundest love. With
undisguised gladness he accepted the successive decorations bestowed
upon him in the Order of the Legion of Honour. And the son of the
Bernwiller gardener experienced quite a legitimate pride when the
unanimous appreciation of his peers opened the doors of the Institute
to him.