15 Works, Today, April 14th is artist Henri Lehmann's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #103

Henri Lehmann (French, 1814–1882)

Le Lai d'Aristote , c. 1848

Oil on canvas

115 x 147 cm. (45.3 x 57.9 in.)

Private collection

Henri Lehmann (14 April 1814 – 30 March 1882) was a German-born French historical painter and portraitist.

Born Heinrich Salem Lehmann in Kiel, in the Duchy of Holstein, he received his first art tuition from his father Leo Lehmann and from other painters in Hamburg. In 1831, at the age of 17, he travelled to Paris to study art under Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, becoming one of his most accomplished pupils and a close associate for many years. His first exhibition was at the Salon in 1835 where he won a second-class medal. Thereafter he exhibited regularly at the Salon, winning first-class medals in 1840, 1848 and 1855.

Henri Lehmann  (1814–1882) 

Calypso, c. 1869

Oil on canvas

120.7 x 153 cm

Minneapolis Institute of Art, USA

The story of the beautiful nymph Calypso is told in Homer's "Odyssey", an ancient Greek epic. Calypso lived on the island of Ogygia, where the shipwrecked hero Ulysses (Odysseus) drifted ashore. Plying Ulysses with luxuries, love, and offers of immortality, Calypso kept him with her for seven years. Finally the gods intervened and let him sail for home. Here, Calypso mourns Ulysses' departure, on the same shore where the homesick hero himself used to stare despondently out to sea. More on this painting

Henri Lehmann

Sirens Calling Ulysses

Oil on canvas

90 x 115 cm 

Private collection

The Sirens and Ulysses is a large oil painting on that epicts the scene from Homer's Odyssey in which Ulysses (Odysseus) resists the bewitching song of the Sirens by having his ship's crew tie him up, while they are ordered to block their own ears to prevent themselves from hearing the song. 

Henri Lehmann

Sea Nynphs bewailing dealth of Prometheus

Oil on canvas

35 x 45 5/8

Private collection

Bought by King Louis Philippe at the Salon

Prometheus was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into conflict withZeus. Firstly he tricked the gods out of the best portion of the sacrificial feast, acquiring the meat for the feasting of man. Then, when Zeus withheld fire, he stole it from heaven and delivered it to mortal kind hidden inside a fennel-stalk. As punishment for these rebellious acts, Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora(the first woman) as a means to deliver misfortune into the house of man, or as a way to cheat mankind of the company of the good spirits. Prometheus meanwhile, was arrested and bound to a stake on Mount Kaukasos (Caucasus) where aneagle was set to feed upon his ever-regenerating liver (or, some say, heart). Generations later the great hero Herakles (Heracles) came along and released the old Titan from his torture. More on Prometheus

Lehmann lived in Rome from 1838–41, where he continued his artistic education with Ingres, Director of the Académie de France there, and collaborated with him on some works—including Ingres' painting Luigi Cherubini and the Muse of Lyric Poetry (See below). 

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres  (1780–1867)

Luigi Cherubini and the Muse of Lyric Poetry, c. 1842

Oil on canvas

Height: 105 cm (41.3 in); Width: 94 cm (37 in)

Louvre Museum

In Rome Lehmann befriended Franz Liszt and his lover, the author Marie d'Agoult (See below), corresponding with them for many years and painting portraits of them.

Henri Lehmann (1814–1882) Portrait of Franz Liszt, c. 1839 Oil on canvas Height: 152 cm (59.8 in); Width: 125 cm (49.2 in) Musée Carnavalet	Henri Lehmann (1814–1882) Marie de Flavigny, comtesse d'Agoult Oil on canvas Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris

Lehmann settled permanently in Paris in 1842. He was awarded many commissions for large-scale public works, such as at the Hôtel de Ville, the Church of Ste-Clothilde, the Palais du Luxembourg, the Palais de Justice, and the Chapel of the Jeunes Aveugles in the Church of Saint-Merri on Rue Saint-Martin.

Henri Lehmann  (1814–1882)

St Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1839

Oil on canvas

Height: 152 cm (59.8 in); Width: 262 cm (103.1 in)

Fabre museum

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and converted hundreds of people to Christianity. She was martyred around the age of 18. Over 1,100 years following her martyrdom, St. Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her.

The emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered. Maxentius ordered her to be beheaded. Catherine herself ordered the execution to commence. A milk-like substance rather than blood flowed from her neck.

 

The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a Great Martyr, and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November (depending on the local tradition). In the Catholic Church she is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In 1969 the Catholic Church removed her feast day from the General Roman Calendar; however, she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November. More on Saint Catherine of Alexandria

A young collector from Montpellier, François Sabatier, bought from the German-born Henri Lehmann this large picture of the martyred St Catherine of Alexandria carried to her tomb by flying angels, painted in Rome in 1839. He was apparently as intrigued by the picture's combination of extreme sentiment and aesthetic primitivism, based on early Italian painting, as by its imagery of Christian martyrdom. In any case, the freely floating forms of the saint and her celestial escort suggest — not for the first time in a scene of death and transfiguration - an almost sensual ecstasy. More on this painting

Henri Lehmann, 1814–1882)

Sketch for Saint Catherine of Alexandria Carried to Her Tomb, c. 1839

Graphite on wove paper (squared for transfer)

20 x 34 3/4 in.

Dahesh Museum of Art

This is a full compositional study for Saint Catherine of Alexandria Carried to Her Tomb (1839, Musée Fabre, Montpellier) (See above), which was one of Lehmann’s first religious subjects and earned him a first class medal at the Salon of 1840. Three angels lead the way carrying remnants of one of the spiked wheels upon which Catherine was martyred. Others carry her body to Mount Sinai across the sky, while another group sings and plays music. Emperor Maxentius—whom she refused to marry—ordered Catherine’s torture and beheading in the 4th century A.D. after her piety and erudition converted 50 of his greatest philosophers to Christianity. More on this painting

Henri Lehmann (French, Kiel 1814–1882 Paris)

Tobias Brings His Bride Sarah to the House of His Father, Tobit, c. 1830–82

Oil paint on paper, mounted on board

9 5/8 x 13 3/4 in. (24.5 x 35 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A short story possibly dating from Persian times is the book of Tobit, named after the father of its hero. Obeying the tenets of Jewish piety, Tobit buried the corpses of his fellow Israelites who had been executed. One day, when he buried a dead man, the warm dung of sparrows fell in his eyes and blinded him. His family subsequently suffered from poverty, but then Tobit remembered that he had once left a deposit of silver at Rages (today Teheran) in Media. He sent his son Tobias along with a companion, who was in reality the angel Raphael under the guise of an Israelite, to retrieve the deposit. During the journey, while Tobias was washing in the Tigris, a fish threatened to devour his foot. Upon instructions from Raphael, Tobias caught the fish and removed its gall, heart, and liver, since it was believed that the smoke from the heart and liver had the power to exorcise demons and that ointment made from the gall would cure blindness. On the way he stopped at Ecbatana (in Persia), where Raguel, a member of Tobias’ family, lived. His daughter Sarah had been married seven times, but the men had been slain by the demon Asmodeus on the wedding night, before they had lain with her. On the counsel of Raphael, Tobias asked to marry Raguel’s daughter, and on the wedding night Tobias put Asmodeus to flight through the stench of the burning liver and heart of the fish. Raphael went to Rages and returned with the deposit. When he returned with his young wife and Raphael to Nineveh, Tobias restored his father’s sight by applying the gall of the fish to his eyes. Raphael then disclosed that he was one of God’s seven angels and ascended into heaven. More on Tobit

Henri Lehmann (French, Kiel 1814–1882 Paris)

A Scene from the Story of Tobit, ca. 1834–82

Oil paint on paper, mounted on cardboard

7 1/16 x 6 5/16 in. (17.9 x 16 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Circle Henri Lehmann

La Crucifixion

Oil on canvas

h: 75,50 w: 88 cm 

Private collection

The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely between AD 30 and 33. Jesus' crucifixion is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles.

Jesus was arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin, and then sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally crucified by the Romans. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with myrrh or gall to drink before being crucified. He was then hung between two convicted thieves and died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" which, according to the Gospel of John, was written in three languages. After Jesus' death, one soldier pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died. More on The crucifixion of Jesus

He went on to paint portraits of many well-known and distinguished people of the day including Charles Gounod, Victor Cousin, Liszt, Chopin, Stendhal, the Princess Christina Belgiojoso and many others.

In 1846 Lehmann received the Légion d'honneur and in 1847 became a French citizen, opening his studio in that same year. In 1861 he became a teacher at the famous École des Beaux-Arts and was appointed Professor in 1875. He founded the Lehmann Prize to recognise academic excellence in art. In 1864 he was elected a member of the Institut de France.

Henri Lehmann (1814–1882)

ALLEGORY OF HUMAN LIFE OR THE AGES OF LIFE

Oil on canvas

88,4 x 128,7 cm ; 34 3/4 by 50 2/3 in. 

Private collection

Henri Lehmann (1814–1882)

Le Soir

oil on board

20 x 38 cm. (8 x 15 in.)

Private collection

The present lot represents part of the decorative scheme which Lehmann conceived around 1860 for the first floor salon for his daughter Clémence, in the family’s hôtel particulier in Paris. Thought to be one of the three or four overdoors to be inserted in the decorative panelling of the walls, this painting may be the artist’s initial idea or, rather, his final version of it. Other known works for the scheme included 'L’Aurore' (oil on panel, 24 x 12,5 cm.), 'Le Jour' (oil on canvas laid down on a zinc sheet, 64,5 x 131 cm.) and 'La Nuit' (unrecorded medium, 47 x 58 cm.). With the exception of 'Le Jour', all these paintings are, until now, of unknown location. More on this painting

Henri Lehmann

The confession, c. 1872

Oil on canvas on panel

110 x 145 cm 

Private collection

He died in Paris in 1882. More on Henri Lehmann

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