Edouard Julien, Self Portrait by the Curator of the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Albi, France, 1932, Oil Painting, Framed

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Edouard Julien.
French ( b.1883 - d.1966 ).
Self Portrait, 1932.
Oil On Panel.
Image size 17.7 inches x 14.6 … Read more Edouard Julien.
French ( b.1883 - d.1966 ).
Self Portrait, 1932.
Oil On Panel.
Image size 17.7 inches x 14.6 inches ( 45cm x 37cm ).
Frame size 20.9 inches x 17.7 inches ( 53cm x 45cm ).

Original oil painting is by the French artist and scholar Edouard Julien and dates from 1932.
The painting is presented and supplied in a recent wooden frame (which is shown in these photographs).
This vintage painting is in very good condition. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.

Provenance: Previously with the Groch de Salmiech family collection according to 1967 exhibition entries and a catalogue number on the reverse of the panel.

Edouard Julien was an accomplished French painter and lithographer, and long-term curator of the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi. As a scholar of Toulouse-Lautrec he became an art writer who was sought after by publishers all over the world.

Julien was born in Albi, in the Occitanie region of France in 1883. He had an uncle who was a painter and his parents ran a printing house which specialised in art editions and the printing of lithographs. This would have given the young Edouard a taste for art and a sound understanding of artistic techniques. At 17 he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse and studied there throughout 1900 and 1901. He then returned to Albi and took care of the family business, although he also pursued his love of art by working as an artist. By 1903 he was at the Academy in Albi, founded by Bernard-Joseph Artigue, where he became friends with the artist Henri Gourc. In 1928 Julien left Albi again for Paris where he enrolled in the Julian Academy, but he was quickly told that he was an artist, not a student and that they had nothing to teach him about the technique of painting. He therefore rented a studio and worked hard, making friends and exhibiting his works with success.

As an artist Julien loved working in the open air, and his works showed extreme sensitivity. He travelled widely within France to work, and particularly loved the Basque Country, where he met his wife. He also travelled to paint the magical landscapes of Spain, Flanders and North Africa.

At some point Julien returned to Albi, which was also the birthplace of another now more famous French artist whom he admired, namely Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. This artist was to feature most prominently in the professional life of Edouard Julien.
In 1922 the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum was inaugurated in the prestigious setting of the Palais de la Berbie in Albi. This 13th century building was originally the Bishop’s Palace of Albi Cathedral, next to which it stands. It is dedicated mainly to the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and, thanks to a bequest from his parents, houses the largest public collection in the world devoted to this artist. Many visitors do not appreciate that this collection owes much of its success to the devotion of Edouard Julien. In 1934 Charles Beller asked Julien to play a part in the conservation work of the museum and after Beller’s death in 1951 Julien continued to direct and promote the museum, assisted by a team that were devoted to him. He brought together a remarkable collection of works, organised exhibitions by other visiting artists and did much to research and promote the work of Toulouse-Lautrec. In particular he brought together an impressive collection of paintings, lithographs and drawings, together with all the posters ever made by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and organised them into a walking progression of his development as an artist. He also produced his own posters to promote exhibitions at the museum and gained international recognition as a writer when he produced the 1960 hardback book ‘Lautrec’. He also wrote the introduction to the authoritative book ‘The Posters of Toulouse Lautrec’.

Today the Palais de la Berbie is a listed Historical monument and one of the best-preserved episcopal complexes in France; it is one of the two major monuments of the Episcopal City of Albi classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Nowadays, the Toulouse Lautrec museum in Albi displays a portrait of Edouard Julien by Henri Gourc, and also an example of Julien’s own work, a ‘View of Albi’.

Julien continued to work as an artist almost all his life, until his eyesight failed him in 1960. At the time of his retirement from the museum in 1963, after almost thirty years’ work dedicated work, a celebration was held for his role in what was called the miracle of the Albi Museum, and he was nominated as Officer of the Legion of Honor and Knight of Arts and Letters.

In honour of his talent as an artist the Board of Directors of the Museum organised a major retrospective exhibition of his works, which opened in 1967, with an introduction by Henri Gourc. This exhibition featured around 100 of his best paintings, including landscapes, still life and portraits dating from 1900 to 1960. In 40 years of painting there was an obvious continuity, with more intense colouring after 1940, but always a delicate sensitivity. It was said of his work “he painted quite simply with his true qualities, the finesse of his eye, the tenderness of his heart. He does not surprise, he charms.” He was not simply a great art curator, he was a great artist in his own right, with true modesty and generosity of spirit.

Edouard Julien was an artists’ artist. He was held in high esteem by very great painters such as André Dunoyer de Segonzac. He was part of the Honorary Committee of the Salon d’Automne, where he exhibited regularly. During the war years of 1939-1944 he welcomed artists such as Jules Cavailles, Roger Worms, André Strauss, Yves Brayer and the sculptor Albert Bouquillon at his museum and he was a great friend of Francoise Desnoyer.

Edouard Julien died in Vence, in the province of Alpes-Côte d’Azur in 1966. He is remembered for his self-effacing modesty, his talent as an artist and his dedication to the Museum that he did so much to build and promote.

This is a rare oil on panel self-portrait by Edouard Julien. It is dated 1932, when he would have been around 49 years old and working full time as an artist. It shows the artist in round rimmed spectacles and a wide-brimmed grey felt hat. He is also wearing a brown jacket, smart white shirt and tie. He has a neat moustache and beard, gently turning to grey. The head and shoulders portrait is set against a backdrop of a studio with the outline of frames of paintings on the walls behind. The colours in the background reflect the artist’s love of art, with deep shades of blues, greens and gold. Almost a century old, this is a perfect stylish image of an early twentieth century French artist! This piece has an attribution mark,
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