Bernard Boutet de Monvel (9 August 1881 – 28 October 1949) was a French painter, sculptor, engraver, fashion illustrator and interior decorator. Although first known for his etchings, he earned notability for his paintings, especially his geometric paintings from the 1900s and his Moroccan paintings made during World War I. In both Europe and the United States, where he often traveled, he also became known as a portrait painter for high society clients.
Early life and training
He was born in Paris's 4th district, the son of the painter and children's illustrator Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel. His brother Roger became a well-known writer. He was raised in both Paris and Nemours, and he set his sights on becoming a painter from the age of sixteen. Starting in 1897, he studied with Luc-Olivier Merson and Jean Dampt.
Etchings
In 1898, he was introduced to etching by the American painter Louis McClellan Potter (1873–1912) and soon mastered the technique. Boutet de Monvel focused on colour etching using the 'au repérage' method, which required a separate plate for each colour. Some of his earliest etchings were of his brother Roger — L'habitué (The regular, 1902); L'homme aux chiens (Man with dogs, 1905) — and were stylistically reminiscent of James McNeill Whistler's work. He also made work celebrating as the citizens of Nemours and the riverbanks of the Loing; these include L'éclusière (The lock keeper, 1901); Les haleurs (The haulers, 1899); Le chaland (The lighter, 1899); and La péniche (The barge, 1899). The Studio devoted an article to these early works entitled "Coloured Etching in France" in 1901.
Following this, his etchings mainly revolved around dandies of the past. Examples include Le beau (The handsome, 1906); La merveilleuse (The marvellous, 1906); Le lion (The lion, 1907); and Les hortensias (The hydrangeas, 1911). He also took the countryside surrounding Nemours as a subject in works such as L'heure du repos (Hour of rest, 1908). In 1912, The Art Institute of Chicago devoted a retrospective to his colour prints.
Paintings
Boutet de Monvel was simultaneously working in oil painting, especially portraits, which he began to exhibit at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1903. He subsequently began sending works to the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants as well. In 1907, he began to regularly send his works to exhibitions in the United States at the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh.
Early paintings like Les boucheries (Butcher's stalls, 1904) were starkly composed with bright pigments and strong blue shadows. In 1904, after a field trip to Florence, he suddenly shifted to a pointillist style. The light in the paintings became more vibrant and perspective disappeared. Examples of work in this style include Rita del Erido (1907) and Le Sophora (The Sophora tree, ca. 1907). His 1908 self-portrait entitled The Portrait, which showed him in the Nemours countryside on a stormy day flanked by two greyhounds, earned him critical recognition and nomination to membership in the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
In 1909, Boutet de Monvel exhibited at Devambez Gallery a manifesto painting entitled Esquisse (Sketch, 1908), a portrait made using only a ruler and a pair of compasses. This geometric vision of a dandy drew critical censure and mockery of it as "rectilinear painting." Nonetheless, it laid the foundations for his signature style and helped to develop a path towards the later style known as Art Deco. Working with a refined geometric linearity, he reduced his palette to black and a few greys and earth tones handled as flat tints. He also tended to draw from a low perspective angle to accentuate the monumentality of his subjects. Works from this period include Comte Pierre de Quinsonas (1913); and MM. André Dunoyer de Segonzac and Jean-Louis Boussingault (1914).
Illustrations
For financial reasons, Boutet de Monvel also contributed illustrations, especially fashion drawings, to magazines such as Fémina, Jardin des modes nouvelles, and Gazette du Bon Ton. Among those he worked closely with were the fashion designer Paul Poiret, who was an early admirer of his talent, and the illustrator Georges Barbier, who were cofounders of the Journal des Dames et des Modes. He was also associated with the Mortigny Circle, which included Pierre Brissaud, Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scevola, Pierre Troisgros, and others.<ref> [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6538682n Les Modes, revue mensuelle illustrée des Arts décoratifs appliqués à la femme], February 1906</ref>