Marek Zgórniak, Polish Students at the Académie Julian Until 1919, RIHA
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RIHA Journal 0050 | 10 August 2012 Polish students at the Académie Julian until 1919 Marek Zgórniak Editing and peer review managed by / "ecenzje i redakc$ę #apewni&o' Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Międzynarodowe ! ntrum Kultury, Krak#w / Int rnational !ultural ! ntr , Krakow "eviewers / "ecenzenci' %wa &o'rowska, &ar'ara !iciora Polish version available at / Wersja polska dostępna pod: (RIHA Journal 0049) Abstract The subject of the article is the presence of Polish students in the most important private artistic school in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. The extant records regarding the atelier for male students made it possible to compile a list of about 165 Polish painters and sculptors studying there in the period from 1880 to 1919. The text presents the criteria used !hen preparing the list and the diagrams show the fluctuations in registration and the number of Polish artists in particular ateliers in successive years. The observations contained in the article have a summary nature and are illustrated only !ith selected examples. )ontent Acad3"ie Julian: )istory of t)e school For ign rs at t)e A(ad3"ie Julian – state of r sear() 7ol s at t)e Acad3"ie Julian: *ro'l "s with id nti4ication 8 l ction crit ria 7ol s at t)e Acad3"ie Julian: r gistration and *r s nce in t)e at li rs !oncluding r "arks Académie Julian: history of the school "1# The subject of the article is the presence of Polish students in the most important private artistic school in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. $efore 191% its ateliers have seen many painters and sculptors of both sexes and various nationalities, !hich is !hy publications such as dictionaries and monographs of particular artists fre'uently mention the school( it is often referred to as the )famous" *cad+mie ,ulian or *cad+mie ,ulien& for despite the fame its name is often 'uoted incorrectly. "-# In the last t!o decades or so our /no!ledge about this institution has been significantly enriched and !e can constrain ourselves here to recalling the most important facts. The school !as founded in 1868 by the painter 0odolphe ,ulian 11829319 45& student of 6+on 7ogniet. *t first it !as an ordinary atelier for studies from a model& initially only for men and later also for !omen& !ithout professors and only !ith occasional corrections.1 8our years later& !hen it !as attended by about one hundred persons,- the o!ner of the enterprise employed some !ell3/no!n painters for making corrections, among them graduates and professors of the state3run 9cole des $eaux3*rts, important figures on the 1 M. Julian n'avait encore que des clients, ce n'étaient pas des élèves. 7amille :ebans& Les Plaisirs et les curiosités de Paris. Guide humoristique et pratique& Paris 1889& 19%. - :ebans& Les Plaisirs& 192. License: :his text is provided under the ter"s of the Creative Co"mons License CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0, RIHA Journal 0050 | 10 August 2012 official artistic scene. This group initially comprised ;ustave $oulanger 118-%318885 and ,ules 6efebvre 11826319115 and no later than 1844 also <illiam $ouguereau 118-53 19 55 and Tony 0obert38leury 11824319115.2 The number of students, both male and female& started to gro! rapidly( it !as soon necessary to open ne! ateliers in various 1better and !orse5 districts of Paris and employ ne! professors of painting as !ell as sculpture. "2# The school served as a preparatory course for 9cole des $eaux3*rts and the curriculum !as academic, that is based on pencil and paint studies of plaster casts and living models, mostly nudes. The students also made = !ithout a model = essays in composition on prescribed subjects from ecclesiastical and ancient history.% The corrections too/ place t!ice a !ee/. *lthough the progress to another stage of study theoretically depended on the professor&5 the system !as more liberal than in the state school. The main condition of participating in the course !as paying a fee. If a student did not !ant a correction& he or she could veil the !or/ during the professor>s visit. There !ere competitions stimulating to greater effort? a !ee/ly ran/ing of the prepared studies, !ith the !inners selecting their place in the atelier for the next !ee/& and the monthly competition comprising several ateliers, !ith the artists striving for a medal and a one3 hundred3francs [email protected] "%# 7ontrary to conventional !isdom *cad+mie ,ulian !as not the only school open to !omen. ,ulian>s teacher& 7ogniet& accepted female students in his atelier and in the second half of the 19th century !omen had several schools to choose from& for example 1from 18495 the atelier run by another student of 7ogniet& 9douard Arug& !here for 1 francs a month the students had daily corrections, that is more fre'uent than at ,ulian>s. The prices at the *cad+mie ,ulian !ere slightly lo!er? men paid a % 3francs yearly fee and !omen paid 4 francs 1the difference resulted from higher costs of running an atelier for !omen as !ell as from a conviction that female students did not have to earn the money themselves).4 The state Bchool of 8ine *rts 19cole des $eaux3*rts) started to recruit !omen as late as 1894. The access for men !as al!ays limited there by the 2 Bee ;ermaine ;reer& )>* tout prix devenir 'uel'u'un'? the !omen of the *cad+mie ,ulian,) in: Artistic Relations: Literature and the ine arts in nineteenth-centur" #rance& ed. Peter 7ollier and 0obert 6ethbridge& Ce! Daven/London 199%& 52. % *rchives Cationales& 62 *B 8& spool - 1Rue #romentin, sujets d'esquisses& date not given)( see also Dorst Fhr& Lovis %orinth& $er/eley 199 & 24. 5 ;reer& )* tout prix devenir 'uel'u'un,) %9. 6 *round 19 5 there already !ere several competitions? for a nude& a torso and a portrait& !ith pri@es up to 15 francs. Académie Julian. &chool o Painting, Modelling and (rawing& prospectus from around 19 5& preserved in: *rchives Cationales& 62 *B -& spool 2 1*+ rue #ontaine ,+-,! ,+-*5. 4 ;reer& )* tout prix devenir 'uel'u'un,) % 3%%& 52( ;abriel P. <eisberg& )The <omen of the *cad+mie ,ulian. The Po!er of Professional 9mulation,) in: .vercoming all ./stacles. 0he 1omen o the Académie Julian& ed. ;abriel P. <eisberg and ,ane 0. $ec/er& Ce! Gor/ 1999& 1%. License: :his text is provided under the ter"s of the Creative Co"mons License CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0, RIHA Journal 0050 | 10 August 2012 number of available places, and beginning from the 188 s is !as made more difficult for foreigners through the introduction of a language test.8 "5# *ttracting students to a fee3paying school in a free3mar/et environment !as not easy. The main virtue and magnet !as the names of the professors but the mar/eting efforts of the o!ner also played a significant role. They included careful selecting Paris locations,9 abolishing 1in 18465 ateliers for both sexes and using various forms of advertising& such as a painting by Harie $ash/irtseff sho!ing one of the ateliers, commissioned by ,ulian for the 1881 Balon.1 In the press adverts and other sponsored publications, for example in a guideboo/ issued in connection !ith the <orld 9xhibition in 1889& the virtues of the academy !ere highlighted and the potential reservations of moral nature !ere repudiated. *s 7amille Debans !rote at that time& employing eminent professors initiated changes !hich made *cad+mie ,ulian into the school of fine arts of the 0ight $an/ Paris, !ith more freedom& more authentic, younger and !ith the uni'ue essence of the graceful female component "...# Ine 'uestion almost automatically comes to mind& especially the mind of the fathers and mothers: do the young ladies also !or/ !ith a living modelJ "6# The columnist offers an untrue assurance11 that in the ateliers for ladies you see only models of the same sex. Haking sure of that is extremely scrupulous. 9ven the skeleton used on Thursdays osteology lessons is female. "...# $esides the professors no son of *dam enters the ateliers designated for the daughters of 9ve. "4# Buch an intrusion proved impossible even for reporters dressed as itinerant paint3 sellers.1- The school registers recorded information about students? their addresses and sometimes their acquaintances and later distinctions gained at the exhibitions. In the early - th century the academy published brochures and its o!n periodical L'Académie Julian !ith information and advertising materials. "8# The prominent position of professors employed by the *cad+mie ,ulian in state3run and corporate artistic structures sometimes led to conflicts of interests. *s ,acques 6ethKve !rote& In the late ,-th century the Julian Academ" could /e accused o promotin' a 3ind o mafia: pro essors and some students supported each other in the elections to the 8 Fhr& Lovis %orinth& -9. 9 7atherine 8ehrer& )<omen at the *cad+mie ,ulian in Paris&) in: 4urlington Magazine 126 1199%5& 452( <eisberg& )The <omen of the *cad+mie ,ulian,) 16. 1 8irmin ,avel 1)Les ateliers de 8emmes&) in: Art rançais. Revue artistique he/domadaire v. 4& no 218 1-4 L 18925& 1& 'uotes an entry from the painter>s diary& !here she suggests that the subject !as put for!ard on -8 :ecember 188 by ,ulian, !ith !hom she signed a contract stipulating that the finished painting !ould belong to him. * similar contract& concerning a smaller vie! of an atelier at rue Livienne 52& !as signed by ,ulian !ith *m+lie $eaury3Baurel. did not find this entry in my edition of the diary.