Henri GUINIER, La Nymphe Erato

Henri GUINIER
(Paris 1867-1927 Neuilly-sur-Seine)
The Nymph Erato
1896
oil on canvas
84 x 65 cm; 106 x 86 cm

Henri Guinier entered the École des Arts et Métiers in Châlons-sur-Marne on his father's advice and graduated as an engineer in 1886. Passionate about painting, he then trained alongside Jules Lefebvre and Benjamin-Constant. His success was dazzling. He won the Prix de Rome in 1893, and was subsequently awarded medals in 1896, 1898, and again in 1900, where he received a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition. In 1907, he was awarded the Henner Prize. A founding member of the Salon d'Automne, he exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français from the early 1890s until his death.

He discovered Brittany in 1902 during a stay in Bréhat, following the advice of his friend Fernand Le Gout-Gérard, who had praised the beauty of Concarneau. Unlike artists such as Rivière or Guérin, who focused more on landscapes or picturesque Breton scenes, Guinier became a portraitist and depicted Brittany through the human figure. The Cornouaille region of Finistère, Le-Faouët, and the Côtes-d'Armor also inspired allegorical subjects. Breton legends rub shoulders with mythological influences, as evidenced by the painting before you. Erato, one of the nine muses, patron saint of lyrical and erotic poetry, is presented to us in the cool, soothing setting of a dense forest. Naked, she covers her shoulder with a purple stole and holds in her left hand her attribute: a lyre, given to her by Hermes. Painted in chiaroscuro, her face is magnified by the flamboyant red halo of her hair, crowned with a laurel wreath.

In 1896, Henri Guinier painted this painting, of which he exhibited "L'étude de tête" (The Head Study) at the 1896 Salon under number 984.
The painting "Autumn," similar to ours in its theme and composition, is now housed at the Musée d'Orsay.