Roger de La Fresnaye
Encyclopedia
Roger de La Fresnaye was a French cubist painter
.
where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed. The La Fresnayes were an aristocratic
family whose ancestral home, the Château de La Fresnaye, is in Falaise
. His education was classically based, and was followed from 1903 to 1904 by studies at the Académie Julian
in Paris
, and from 1904 to 1908 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
. From 1908 he studied at the Académie Ranson
under Maurice Denis
and Paul Sérusier
, whose joint influence is evident in early works such as Woman with Chrysanthemums, 1909. This demonstrates the dreamlike symbolist
ambience and stylistic character of work by the Les Nabis
group.
group of artists, and his work demonstrates an individual response to cubism
. He was influenced by Georges Braque
and Pablo Picasso
, but his work has a more decorative than structural feel and his prismatic colours reflect the influence of Robert Delaunay
. He was a member of the Puteaux Group, an orphist
offshoot of cubism led by Jacques Villon
. His most famous work is The Conquest of the Air, 1913, which depicts himself and his brother outdoors with a balloon in the background.
La Fresnaye enlisted in the French army in World War I
but contracted tuberculosis
and was discharged in 1918. His health deteriorated rapidly after the war. He never recovered the physical energy to undertake sustained work. In the later paintings that he did create, he abandoned cubist spatial analysis for a more linear style. He ceased painting in 1922 but continued to draw. He died in Grasse
in 1925.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Early years and education
La Fresnaye was born in Le MansLe Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed. The La Fresnayes were an aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
family whose ancestral home, the Château de La Fresnaye, is in Falaise
Falaise, Calvados
Falaise is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-History:The town was the birthplace of William I the Conqueror, first of the Norman Kings of England. The Château de Falaise , which overlooks the town from a high crag, was formerly the seat of...
. His education was classically based, and was followed from 1903 to 1904 by studies at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and from 1904 to 1908 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
. From 1908 he studied at the Académie Ranson
Académie Ranson
The Académie Ranson was founded in Paris by the French painter Paul Ranson , who himself studied at the Académie Julian, in 1908.- History :...
under Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis was a French painter and writer, and a member of the Symbolist and Les Nabis movements. His theories contributed to the foundations of cubism, fauvism, and abstract art.-Childhood and education:...
and Paul Sérusier
Paul Sérusier
Paul Sérusier was a French painter who was a pioneer of abstract art and an inspiration for the avant-garde Nabi movement, Synthetism and Cloisonnism.- Education :...
, whose joint influence is evident in early works such as Woman with Chrysanthemums, 1909. This demonstrates the dreamlike symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
ambience and stylistic character of work by the Les Nabis
Les Nabis
Les Nabis were a group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists who set the pace for fine arts and graphic arts in France in the 1890s. Initially a group of friends interested in contemporary art and literature, most of them studied at the private art school of Rodolphe Julian in Paris in the...
group.
Career
From 1912 to 1914 La Fresnaye was a member of the Section d'OrSection d'Or
The Section d'Or , also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of painters and critics associated with an offshoot of Cubism known as Orphism...
group of artists, and his work demonstrates an individual response to cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
. He was influenced by Georges Braque
Georges Braque
Georges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
and Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, but his work has a more decorative than structural feel and his prismatic colours reflect the influence of Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee...
. He was a member of the Puteaux Group, an orphist
Orphism (art)
Orphism or Orphic Cubism , the term coined by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, was a little known art movement during the time of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors influenced by Fauvism and the dye chemist Eugène Chevreul...
offshoot of cubism led by Jacques Villon
Jacques Villon
Jacques Villon was a French cubist painter and printmaker.-Early life:Born Gaston Emile Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in the Haute-Normandie region of France, he came from a prosperous and artistically inclined family...
. His most famous work is The Conquest of the Air, 1913, which depicts himself and his brother outdoors with a balloon in the background.
La Fresnaye enlisted in the French army in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
but contracted tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and was discharged in 1918. His health deteriorated rapidly after the war. He never recovered the physical energy to undertake sustained work. In the later paintings that he did create, he abandoned cubist spatial analysis for a more linear style. He ceased painting in 1922 but continued to draw. He died in Grasse
Grasse
-See also:*Route Napoléon*Ancient Diocese of Grasse*Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department-External links:*...
in 1925.
Gallery
Further reading
- Germain SeligmanGermain SeligmanGermain Seligman was a successful art dealer, collector, and art historian. From 1924, Seligman headed the Paris and New York offices of Jacques Seligmann & Cie., a prominent art dealership...
: Roger De La Fresnaye, Thames & Hudson Ltd (1969) ISBN 0-500-09052-1 - Tom Slevin: '"The Catastrophe of my Existence": Facing Death in Roger de la Fresnaye's Self-Portraiture' (Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities, Vol. 16 No.1, 2011)
External links
- Artcyclopedia - Links to Fresnaye's works