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47 - Jules MIGONNEY (Bourg-en-Bresse 1876 – Paris 1929) Portrait …
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Estimate €6,000 - €8,000
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Description
Jules MIGONNEY (Bourg-en-Bresse 1876 – Paris 1929) Portrait of an Arab Woman Original oil on canvas 78 x 63 cm Signed lower right: J. Mignonney Bears a label on the back of the stretcher frame reading ‘Musée de Bourg-en-Bresse, Jules Mignoney exhibition’ *** Oil on canvas, signed lower right (30¾ × 24¾ in.) Exhibition Jules Mignonney, Musée de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, June–July 1991, No. 14. Born into a modest family, Jules Mignonney (Bourg-en-Bresse, 1876 – Paris, 1929) studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon under Jean-Baptiste Poncet, then trained in Paris in Léon Bonnat’s studio and frequented that of Eugène Carrière. As a scholarship holder at the Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algiers from 1909 to 1911, he discovered a light there that would leave a lasting mark on his painting, featuring sensual and realistic female nudes rendered without artifice. His Orientalist work is characterised by a direct and intimate approach to everyday Algerian life — scenes of the hammam, bathing, and portraits — a far cry from the narrative or exoticising compositions of some of his contemporaries. Around 1920, he settled in Algeria as a customs officer, whilst continuing to paint. He took his own life in Paris in 1929. “His work reflects certain trends of his era: Orientalism characterised by a concern for ‘truth’ rather than by a flashy, exotic romanticism. As an attentive and respectful observer, he was able to capture the reality of this country and its people.” Jean-Christophe Caffé, Catalogue of the Musée de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, 1991 Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and later in Paris, where he became friends with Derain, Matisse and Marquet, Jules Migonney (1876–1929) retained a classical aesthetic and a portraitist’s sensibility in the face of Fauvism. It was in 1909, upon winning a scholarship to the Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algiers, that he found his calling: Algeria revealed his artistic personality. A resident there until 1911, he worked alongside Léon Carré, Paul Jouve, Charles Dufresne and Léon Cauvy, and in 1910 undertook a journey through Kabylie, coming into contact with nomadic communities. His Orientalist style, similar to that of Étienne Dinet, is characterised by a poetic realism and an ethnographic approach far removed from the garish exoticism of the 19th century — seeking not so much to idealise the subject as to capture its intensity. His works — portraits of women, scenes from the hammam, Kabyle villages — are held at the Musée de Brou (Bourg-en-Bresse), the Museums of Algiers and the Centre Pompidou, Paris (Scène de hammam, 1910, inv. LUX.0.560 D). Bibliography Various authors, Jules Migonney (1876–1929), Musée de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, 1991.
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About the sale Orientalism & Africanism
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Auction time 07/03/2026 at 2:00 PM
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