06 works, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Lucien Levy-Dhurmer and Jeanne Soyer Lemerle's La bourrasque, with Footnotes. #230

Lucien Levy-Dhurmer (FRENCH, 1865-1953)

La bourrasque, c. 1897

Pastel on paper

15 x 17 3/8 in. (38 x 44 cm.)

Private collection

Sold for GBP 126,000 in Jul 2022

Lucien Levy-Dhurmer (French, 1865-1953)

La Bourrasque, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

12 7/8 x 21½ in. (33 x 55 cm.)

Private collection

Sold for GBP 46,850 in Jun 2011

Lucien Levy-Dhurmer, c.1865-c.1953

French Symbolist artist

Gust of Wind

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Lucien LÉVY-DHURMER,(Algiers, 1863 - Le Vésinet, 1953)

Study for The Storm, C. 1896

Pastel on paper

38 × 58 cm

Brest Museum of Fine Arts

This study for a pastel, the final version of which was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français and which is today kept in a private collection, is part of a series of works dealing with the same subject.

All represent a woman's face, seen in profile, with long, disheveled hair: the personification of autumn. The gust of wind carries away the woman's face, whose hair merges with the dead leaves which swirl around her, forming a decorative ornament. Its delicate profile seems to disappear in a fade which gives the whole composition a dreamlike and melancholic appearance. Museum website

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer Alger, 1865 - Le Vésinet, 1953

La bourrasque

Aquarelle gouachée

h: 33 w: 54 cm

Private collection

Sold for 45,200 € in Mar. 2016

La bourrasque, which translates as 'The squall', formed part of a strikingly ethereal series of portraits based upon the theme of the four seasons. The present work illustrates autumn and became the subject matter of much experimentation during the late 1890s, resulting in a painting under this title being exhibited twice in Paris in 1896, first at the Galerie Georges Petit and later at the Salon (no. 1261). The present pastel is perhaps one of the artist's most strikingly beautiful examples. The girl's windswept hair falls in wisps upon her face and the vibrant, other-worldly colours instantly transport the viewer from the seasons in this world to those of another. More on this painting

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer (September 30, 1865 – September 24, 1953) was a French Symbolist/Art Nouveau artist whose works include paintings, drawings, ceramics, furniture and interior design.

He was born Lucien Lévy in French Algeria. In 1879 he began studying drawing and sculpture in Paris. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1882. In 1887 Lévy began making his living near Cannes in southern France, overseeing the decoration of ceramics. From 1886 to 1895 he worked as a ceramic decorator and then as artistic director of the studio of Clément Massier. Around 1892 he signed his first pieces of ceramics, which were influenced by Islamic Art. In 1895 he left for Paris to begin a career in painting; around this time he visited Italy and was further influenced by art of the Renaissance.

In 1896 he exhibited his first pastels and paintings. He earned high praise for the academic attention to detail with which he captured figures lost in a Pre-Raphaelite haze of melancholy, contrasted with bright Impressionist colouration.

After 1901 Lévy-Dhurmer moved away from expressly Symbolist content, incorporating more landscapes into his work because of his travels in Europe and North Africa. He continued to draw inspiration from music and attempted to capture works of great composers such as Beethoven in painted form.

He died in Le Vésinet in 1953. More on Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer

Jeanne Soyer Paris, 1879 - (?),

The storm, after Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, c.  1967

Enamel plaque

h: 11 w: 17 cm

Private collection

Sold for 7,800 € in Sep. 2017

Jeanne Soyer Lemerle (1879-1967):Little is known of her, except that she assisted her husband, Théophile Soyer (1853-1940) in his work as an enamel painter.

She married into a family of artists.  She was the daughter of the painter and book dealer Charles-Paul Landon (1791-0826), and married another book dealer, whose last name was Soyer, and was established rue du Doyenné, in Paris.  She was active with certainty from 1821 to 1839, and possibly up to 1851.  She engraved decorative models of furniture, jewelry, as well as portraits.

Her artistic precociousness explains why she married into an artistic trade and was able to pursue a life in the arts as a woman.  Even her stylized monogram, JSLM, shows an attention to elegance unusual for such a young person.  The composition is dark, and conveys a sense of melancholy.  

The Musée d’Orsay owns 163 works by Jeanne Soyer Lemerle.  Sadly, only one work has been photographed so far! More on Jeanne Soyer Lemerle

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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