Albert Maignan: Painter and Decorator of Fin de Siècle Paris

An elusive painter, oscillating between a naturalism in vogue at the end of the 19^th century and an elegiac painting with symbolist accents, Albert Maignan (1845-1908) is one of the great forgotten names of this era. Returned to the spotlight today by the Taylor Foundation and the Picardie Museum, which share his heritage, he has finally regained the legitimate place he had acquired in the Paris of the late 19^th century.

Trained under Jules Noël and Évariste Luminais, in 1867 he became a regular at the Salon des artistes français where he exhibited until his death with equal success. Awarded a first medal in 1879, he found recognition in 1888 with Les Voix du tocsin – a legendary work which is reborn today after having been rolled up since 1918 – before establishing himself among the eternal artists of the Luxembourg Museum in 1892 with La Mort de Carpeaux, which earned him the medal of honor.

Renowned for his painting, which evolves towards grand decor inspired by his numerous trips to Italy where he discovered the painters of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, Albert Maignan's name is linked to the monumental projects of his time. He leaves a masterful and still living work: painted walls and ceilings at the restaurant Le Train Bleu at the Gare de Lyon and at the Opéra-Comique, tapestries for the Senate, spandrels for the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, stained glass windows for the Saint-Philippe-du-Roule church… Following the fire at the Bazar de la Charité in 1897, during which more than 125 of the most prominent people in fashionable Paris died, he was invited to create two stained glass windows and a 90-square-meter painted dome for the Notre-Dame-de-Consolation chapel, erected in homage to the victims of the tragedy.

In 1905 he was appointed president of the Taylor Foundation, to which he bequeathed his Parisian house-studio at 1 rue La Bruyère. Albert Maignan played a decisive role in artistic life at the turn of the century, working generously to promote and protect artists.

Important studio archives, bequeathed to the Picardie Museum with his entire collection, as well as his diary, kept at the National Library of France, allow us to rediscover the richness and extraordinary freedom of this work – a true allegory of turn-of-the-century taste. His wife Louise, daughter of the painter Charles-Philippe Larivière, delivered these to posterity by archiving the remaining works after the death of her husband in 1908 and up until her own death in 1947, so that Albert Maignan would once again become known as one of the greatest names of the 19^th century.

• 20.5 x 25.5 cm
• 176 pages
• 200 illustrations
• Hardcover
• ISBN: 978-2-91554-2844

Text in French only

Véronique Alémany est conservateur en chef du patrimoine. Spécialiste de l’œuvre d’Albert Maignan, elle a été conservateur du musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims et directrice du Musée national de Port-Royal des Champs.

Olivia Voisin est conservateur du patrimoine. Conservateur au musée d’Amiens, elle a géré le fonds Maignan et a engagé une importante politique de mise en valeur de la peinture d’Histoire de la fin du XIXe siècle. Elle est aujourd’hui directrice des musées d’Orléans.

Bruno Foucart est professeur émérite de l’université Paris-Sorbonne. Ses recherches portent notamment sur l’histoire de l’art et de l’architecture du XIXe siècle. Auteur, aux Éditions Norma, des Décorateurs des années 40, en 1998, et de Scènes d’intérieur, en 2002, il est directeur scientifique de la Fondation Taylor.

Préface de François Legrand, peintre et vice-président de la Fondation Taylor.