Jean-Leon Jerome (1824–1904) is a French artist and sculptor who worked in an academic style. He preferred to write, choosing mythological, historical, oriental and religious topics. During his life he was a success, then he was forgotten for a long time. Now interest in his works has revived again.
First work
In the Salon of 1847, Jean-Leon Jerome exhibited a work entitled "Young Greeks look at cockfighting." She is now in the Orsay Museum. It depicts a naked young man and a girl watching a fight of roosters. According to critics of the time, roosters are depicted more realistically and accurately than the figures of young people. In general, this is a typical picture of a novice artist with certain errors. Nevertheless, she was successful with the public and received the medal of the Salon. After 1848, when the republican form of government was established, Jean-Leon Gerome paints a scandalous picture called "Gyneke". Judging by what it is called (gynecology is the closed female half of the house of the Greeks), nothing special should be depicted. In the ancient Greek tradition, women are quiet and slaughtered creatures, and marriage among the Greeks is monogamous. Jean-Leon Jerome portrayed a harem with naked female bodies. The plot, which did not correspond to history and frankly erotic, was apparently chosen because the audience preferred not to think about the works, but only to have fun watching them.
The Shepherd, 1857
This picture is interesting for its history and value. She was in the Hermitage. In the prewar years, she was transferred to the Far Eastern Museum of Art. There she exhibited until 1946, until she was stolen. It was a time when its author was completely forgotten. For a long time nothing was known about her.
But now, when Jean-Leon Gerome has become a fashionable artist, and the picture has his signature, it has surfaced on the black market. In 2016, she was found by employees of the Federal Security Service. The police connected to her seizure. The operation was successfully completed, and Khabarovsk again received this picture, which today is estimated at about three million US dollars. This only speaks of fashion, which again entered Jean-Leon Gerome. The painting "Shepherd" is nothing special.
Bonaparte before the Sphinx, 1867
In the boundless desert under the scorching sun on a horse sits riding up to the Sphinx arrogant Bonaparte, a favorite of the nation. His figure is emphasized shallow in comparison with the bulk of the Sphinx.
You can only guess about Napoleon’s retinue from the shadows that are behind. The creator of the empire does not doubt that he will solve the riddle of a huge monster. But, as history has shown, this did not happen, and Napoleon ingloriously lost the war with Russia and died in exile on the small island of St. Helena, lost in the Atlantic Ocean.
In general, the East was of interest to the artist. This is evidenced by the picture "Arab market of concubines." Jean-Leon Jerome wrote it around 1866.
Choosing a Concubine for a Harem
From 1839 to 1876, the Ottoman Empire underwent constitutional transformations. The artist repeatedly came to the Middle East, was interested in his life, which is not so similar to European. He knew that in the Port, under the influence of socio-economic reforms, the trade in slaves was limited. Nevertheless, it continued, although not so openly. In the picture - a scene from a very close story. In the courtyard arranged bargaining. In the background are women dressed, prepared for sale. In the center of the composition is the owner of the slave and three buyers. Clothes were dropped from a woman, and she lay there beside him in a miserable bunch. This humble creature buyers look into their mouths, examining the teeth of a horse.
Wildness and cruelty, baseness and lasciviousness, the complete possession of a woman as an object without a soul, as Islam suggests, are depicted by the artist very realistically, but simply as a fact, without sympathy. Contrasted are written wrapped in multi-colored clothes from head to toe men and completely naked, sparkling snow-white young body meek woman. The picture brought a scandalous raid into the image of the artist. Now she is at the Institute of Arts in Massachusetts (USA).
One of the masterpieces
The painting referred to was painted in 1878. The artist Jean-Leon Jerome created a work on a historical theme. This is the "Introduction of Prince Conde at Versailles." Very large-scale and bright, without clumsy, the canvas shows the majestic figure of Louis XIV, standing on top of a wide staircase.
Exquisitely dressed courtiers and guards crowded on both sides. Prince Conde, taking off his hat with a plume, bowed low before the king, showing complete humility. Technically, the job is flawless. Now she is in the Orsay Museum.
Jean-Leon Gerome was one of the most famous French artists of his time. During his long work, he was repeatedly in the spotlight, causing both sharp criticism and approval.