Georges Maroniez

Georges Maroniez

Georges Maroniez in his studio (1892)
Born 1865
Douai, France
Died 1933 (aged 68)
Paris, France
Nationality French
Education Pierre Billet, Adrien Demont
Known for Painting, Photography
Movement Realism
Spouse(s) Jeanne Dutemple
Awards Légion d'Honneur

Georges Philibert Charles Maroniez (17 January 1865, Douai - 11 December 1933, Paris) was a French painter, specializing in landscapes with figures.

Biography

Education and first works

His father was an industrialist who owned a sugar refinery in Montigny-en-Ostrevent. He displayed artistic talent at an early age and, although not discouraged, was expected to pursue a more professional career. Accordingly, he studied law and served as a magistrate in, successively, Boulogne-sur-Mer (1891), Avesnes-sur-Helpe (1894) and Cambrai (1897).

While attending law school, he also took courses at the École des Beaux-Arts of Douai and became a student of Pierre Billet in Cantin. It was there he met the painter Adrien Demont, the son-in-law of Jules Breton. Urged on by the latter, at the age of 22 he started exhibiting peasant genre and landscape scenes in Douai and Paris. He began vacationing in Wissant, where he stayed with Demont and his wife, Virginie Demont-Breton, painting the coastal scenery and becoming associated with the "École de Wissant", founded by Henri and Marie Duhem. In 1889, he became a member of the Société des Artistes Français.

Enemies of the Harvest (1894)

At the annual Salon des artistes français, he was awarded a Honorable Mention in 1891, a 3rd Medal in 1905 and a 2nd Medal in 1906.

Defying the label of “marine painter” he filled his genre scene paintings with Flemish realism. Using a luminous, caressing light, he transposed the grey country roads of his birthplace with light, and painted eloquent snowy landscapes. He painted ports of Brittany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as numerous scenes of the fisherman’s life, especially at twilight or night. He captured the magnetic beauty of an ocean sunset, and the tranquility that beauty and light brings.

Inventions

He also became interested in photography and invented one of the first hand-held cameras,[1] a device which he soon simplified, named the "Sphynx" and patented in 1891.[2] The camera used a type of film invented by industrialist Victor Planchon (1863-1935), a relative of his.[3] He travelled widely throughout the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East, using his device to take over 1,600 images that are in the collection of the museum in Cambrai. Later he devised and patented a method of suppressing the vibrations and jerky movements produced by the cinematographs of the Lumière Brothers,[4] which had its unveiling in 1899 at the Société Photographique in Cambrai.

Finally, in 1905, the success of his paintings and the anti-clerical attitudes of the Combes administration led him to resign from the judiciary and devote himself entirely to art.

World War 1; maturity

In August 1914, he was drafted into Military Justice; he became a Knight of the Légion d'honneur in 1918.[5] During the German occupation of north-east France, his studio had been looted and his wife deported to Holzminden, Lower Saxony, with hundreds of other French civilian hostages.[6] The family was reunited only after the ceasefire; they relocated to Paris in 1919.

Sad News (1911)

After that point, he drew most of his inspiration from Brittany. His works were very popular but, according to some critics, became repetitive and too commercial. Over 800 paintings are attributed to him, a majority of which are in private collections. He died of a heart attack in 1933 and was interred in the family vault at Cambrai.

References

  1. ↑ Patent n° 212.790, 20 April 1891, to M. MARONIEZ
  2. ↑ Patent n° 215.659, 25 August 1891, to M. MARONIEZ
  3. ↑ Victor Planchon : les débuts du cinéma à Boulogne-sur-Mer
  4. ↑ Patent n° 284.824, 13 January 1899, à M. MARONIEZ
  5. ↑ Dossier @ the Base Léonore
  6. ↑ "Forced labour, hostages and deportees" Claudine WALLART,Head Curator of Heritage at the Archives Départementales du Nord (Nord Records Office)

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Georges Maroniez.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, October 31, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.