^
Died on 15 February 1934: Jules
Alexandre Grün, French painter, illustrator, and poster
artist born on 26 May 1868.
— Grün was born in Paris, on May 25th, 1868. He died of Parkinson's
Disease, although the date of his death is debated. Some sources state that
he died on February 15, 1934, while others, such as the Salon de Paris official
documents claim 1938. Yet another source claims 1945. Grün was the
pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lavastre, the famed theatrical decorator of the Paris
Opera, and of Antoine Guillemet, a renowned landscape painter. Still life,
portraits, and scenes of Parisian life were his favorite subjects. In 1890,
his illustrations for Xanrof's Chansons sans Gêne (1890)
and Chansons à rire (1891) made him the poet of the Bohemian element
and the Montmartre atmosphere.
His early life is virtually unknown, although
we do know many of his accomplishments, as they are well documented in the
annals of the Paris Salons and periodicals of the period. One turn of the
century publication characterized him as follows: "Whoever sees Grün
once will always re-examine it in his spirit: a Frenchman with a beard and
a legendary baldness; eyes strangely clear and penetrating, and under the
sensual curving nose, a mouth gushing forth with quick wit and good banter."
For Grün, life and art merged; he was a painter because he liked the
life, and because he needed to express his clear feelings, colored, alive
of people and the things around them. As Théophile Gautier said,
Grün was "a man for whom the visible world exists".
In the mid-to-late 1930s, Grün became
stricken with Parkinson's disease, which served to isolate him from society,
and greatly diminished his artistic abilities. When he died one of the last
of the great Belle Epoque poster artists was taken away from the world.
His posters, full of life and of color, contributed largely to the rebirth
of the lithography. With Chéret,
whose name is inseparable in this field, Jules Alexandre Grün helped
transform the scenic landscape of the Parisian streets at the turn of the
century. Full and powerful, almost caricatural, and when he desired, delicate
and exquisite. Grün, by his love of painting, and by the diversity
of his gifts and subjects, was a complete artist.
— Fin
de Souper (1913, 56x152cm) — 17
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