My Favorite French Nude Artist: J. J. Henner

I always search for beautiful French nude paintings...as they are sought by my clients.
I quickly learned..it is my female clients that most often seek the sensual beauty of the paintings.

My favorite French artist for the nude is Jean Jacques Henner...known as J.J. Henner.
The above painting is one of his works that I sold in Atlanta. Henner was born in 1829 and was only 12 when he began his training. He made his debut at the Paris Salon of 1863 and exhibited regularly for 40 years...winning almost every award then available to artist. Although a well-known portrait artist, Henner is best known for his nudes...with cream colored skin and russet hair. He frequently included a blue cloth..as seen in the above painting and some of his auction records exceed $50,000.

You can view many of his works at the Jean-Jacques Henner Museum in Paris with over 500 canvases and 1000 drawings..including some of his first sketches and late unfinished works. The Museum is located at 43 Avenue de Villiers, Paris 75017.

I favor nudes in outdoor settings. The above painting( another redhead) is by the 19th century artist, Jules Armand Hanriot.

As decorators, do you suggest the use of nudes?

French Home Brings Focus To Paintings

I often see oil paintings for sale in France...unframed.

I have come to favor the focus that can be brought by hanging paintings without frames.

We may have overlooked noticing this small painting...

but it pops on the naked wall of the French home.

My eyes notice the painting on the floor over the 2 on the wall.

mixing framed and unframed...it works.

Where Will Art Lead ??

I love it when a post really connects....

On June 4th, Ronda Carman's of "All The Best" post included interview with jewelry designer,

Elizabeth Showers.

"Elizabeth began her creative journey at her grandmother's kitchen table", touched my heart.

This is my Elizabeth....turned 3 on Sunday.

Grandmas know not to worry....

cover the French table with a painter's canvas drop cloth...

add t-shirt from grandma's closet (this is a special one from Marburger Farm Antique Show)

Encourage creativity with oodles and oodles of art supplies..

Wonder...where will art lead??

Creative Antique Dealers, Scott Antique Markets

Love this table....top was a cotton processing belt from the 40s!

A door transformed into a mirror...

One of the booths at the Scott Antique Markets, Atlanta this week-end.

The Antique Market of 800-1000 dealers is 2nd week-end each month, Thursday thru Sunday.

Always a fabulous mix of French, Italian, Swedish, American....and creative dealers.

You can also find "moi", aisle B3

French Artist With Many Pseudonyms, Galien-Laloue

My favorite 19th century French artist of rural landscapes is Eugene Galien-Laloue, 1854-1941.
His life, both personal and professional, is intriquing.
Galien-Laloue was quite the solitary man and rode a bicycle to paint his country scenes as he hated walking in mud and even grass. The most intriguing aspect of his personal life....he married each of 3 sisters. The sisters were his neighbors and he married the youngest sister first. After her death, he then 5 years later married the middle sister...and yes, after her death, while in his seventies he married the oldest sister.

In his professional life, he continues his intrigue....for he painted with many names/signatures.
It has been said by those that studied his life...no other artist has worked with so many pseudonyms.

He signed the above rural landscape, "Lievin"....possibly honoring a soldier friend, Jacques, that was from the town of Lievin.
One of my happy Marburger clients took this one home to Dallas.


In addition to landscapes, Galien-Laloue also painted marines...often inspired by postcards and photographs.
The above marine has another of his popular signatures, "L. Dupuy", possibly used to honor an artist friend, Leon Dupuy, almost 60 years older than Galien-Laloue. They both lived in Fontainbleau and enjoyed painting rural landscapes.



Galien-Laloue did sign his birth name on his Paris street scenes....yet another subject that was so different in nature to the rural landscapes and marines. For the Paris scenes, he often chose to paint in gouache rather than oil as gouache dried easier and he could complete a work in two days rather than two weeks in oil.
Painting techniques were influenced by his background...his father had been a set designer for theatre.... the architecture was painted precise with attention to season, sky, lighting, and time of day. Sometimes, he even used relatives to help animate the scenes.
As he painted Paris street life for over 50 years, his paintings tell a colorful story of the history of Paris.
The Paris scenes are extremely valued....the above scene of the Grand Boulevards (pencil and watercolor on card) sold for $90,000 at auction in 2007.
Another in gouache sold for $173,000 in 2004.
Even his less important Paris pieces usually demand prices $30,000-$50,000.

Galien-Laloue continued painting in his eighties....painting constantly and only stopping to eat.

European Flavor For Windows, CANTONNIERES

On my buying trips to France, I stay on the search for French and Italian window valances, "Cantonnieres" in France.

I like the simple elegance of the flowers ... 19th century French carved wood.

and the ornate flair of this pair of 19th century Italian

This pair of 18th century Venetian, with the original paint, could make a room.

Wine lovers?

Need Black Forest for a lake or mountain retreat?


I find the pieces, turn them over to the magic hands of decorators and designers....

Often imagine the rooms with these wonderful treasures.

Please share or email me....would love to see.