D’ART
THOMAS HENRY
<
Created in 1835, the Thomas-Henry art museum owns today a rich collection of artworks essentially built up with the donations of art passionate. The first donation is that of the founder of the museum, Bon Thomas-Henry (1766-1836), great collector of Cherbourg who became one the most famous art experts in Paris. Towards the end of his life, he gave to his home town 163 paintings and 4 low relieves, all reflecting the tastes of the time: rich and eclectic. This donation is the first of a long series: until 1965, the museum’s collections grow only thanks to donations or the state’s sending. Among the important donations, Armand Le Véel’s (1821-1905) gift to the city: this sculptor, author of the Napoleon the 1st equestrian sculpture you can still see in town, offered not only his personal collection but his own artistic production with a series of bronze sculptures. In 1915, the Ono family, to which belonged Jean-François Millet’s first wife, Pauline, donated an exceptional set of portraits, including Pauline in blue, Pauline in a negligee, Amand Ono’s portrait and Self-portrait painted by the artist during his career in Cherbourg.
These three great donations are completed by an important painting by Horace Vernet given by the Countess of Ganay in 1927, a nice set of artworks by Guillaume Fouace and well-known etchings by Felix Buhot. The Cherbourg city waited until 1965 to create a specific budget to buy artworks. Priority is then given to the growth of the Millet collection, making it the 3rd in the world, after the Louvre and the Orsay museum, to own such a collection of the artist’s work. In 1982, because of the collection’s growth, the city is willing to change the museum’s premises. Settled in the City Hall, the museum moves in the new cultural centre where 200 paintings, 30 sculptures, pieces of furniture… can be exhibited. The art works of the permanent collection are now divided on two floors: the ground floor dedicated to three local artists (Jean-François Millet, Felix Buhot and Guillaume Fouace) and the 1st floor with masterpieces from the 15th to the 20th century.
Practical information
<
Thomas-Henry art museum 4, rue Vastel - 50100 Cherbourg-Octeville 50100 Cherbourg-Octeville Tel : 00 332 33 23 39 30 Fax : 00 332 33 23 39 31 www.ville-cherbourg.fr
<
Opening times
Photos : JM Enault, JL Millet, Ville de Cherbourg-Octeville - Imprimé sur papier recyclé
The real story of the Thomas-Henry art museum
Discover the Thomas-Henry fine art museum!
<
1 May-30 September: open daily except Sunday morning and Monday morning, from 10am-12am and 2pm-6pm. st
th
1st October-30th April: open Wednesday through Sunday, 2pm-6pm.
<
Free entrance to the permanent collections <
D’ART D’ART
THOMAS HENRY
THOMAS HENRY
Ground floor: tribute to 3 artists born in the Cotentin Peninsula
First floor: journey through the centuries
Welcome to the Thomas-Henry fine art museum! Start the visit by discovering the work of three artists of the 19th century born in the Cotentin Peninsula: Jean-François Millet, Felix Buhot and Guillaume Fouace.
Welcomed by the equestrian bronze statues by Armand Le Véel (1821-1905), sculptor author of the Napoleon the First statue downtown, discover the rich collection of varied art works exhibited on the first floor, showing Bon Thomas-Henry’s (donator-founder of the museum) tastes. Pictorial journey through the centuries garantied! l
l
3 The Jean-François Millet room
The Guillaume Fouace room
3
3
3
l
4
Peasant-painter with a late artistic calling, Guillaume Fouace (1837-1895) excels from the start in the art of still life painting. Lobsters, grapes, fishes, game animals, tureens… often come back in his art works and testify of the 19th century’s liking for good foods. His paintings meet a great success in the Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon or Nantes shows. The Thomas-Henry art museum also shows another Fouace, a portrait painter with a sharp eye, an observer of the rural life and a landscape painter.
D’ART
THOMAS HENRY
Painter-engraver and illustrator, Felix Buhot (1847-1898) participated in the renewal of etching in the 19th century. His playing field? The urban life, particularly the streets of Valognes followed by the streets of Paris, fantastical illustrations, particularly of The Diaboliques by Barbey d’Aurevilly, seascapes… The museum owns a hundred of these etchings and a nice collection of paintings, enriched with the donation of the Wieviorka family in 2008: Workshop corner (a.1886-89), Smoke and Fog (1879), The old horse (1881).
4
4 T emporary exhibitions The Thomas-Henry fine arts museum has two big rooms at its disposal for thematical or monographical temporary exhibitions. Every two years, the walls also welcome the art works of comic strip artists during the 9th art Biennial.
Born in Gréville-Hague, Jean-François Millet (18141875), father of the Angelus (1858), is well-known for his peasant scenes of the 19th century. But the beginning of his career is also marked by many portraits, less known, including those of the Ono family, his first wife’s family: Amand Ono, the man with a pipe (1844), Pauline in a negligee (1843), Pauline in blue (1841-42)… In 1915, the Ono family bequeaths its collection to the museum, making it the first in the world to possess such a collection of portraits by the artist. In 1845, Millet renounces definitely to portraits and dedicates his work to realistic paintings of the peasant life. The Charity (1858) is one of the best examples of this period.
6 Landscape painting
l
Are called primitives the painters of the First Renaissance marked by the creation of printing works and by the spreading of knowledge. These knowledge allow painters to have a new representation of the world, in perspective, where man becomes the central figure. Symbolic artist of the time, Fra Angelico associates old didactical and pedagogical values of art to new pictorial principles of the Renaissance (perspective and representation of the human figure).
3 4
5
(16th-17th centuries)
After the perfection in the representation of the human body and in the control of perspective achieved during the Renaissance, Mannerism followed by the Baroque are characterised by the exaggeration of movements, the decorative overload and the dramatic effects. Among its most representative artists, Francesco Solimena (Jacob’s dream) and Caravaggio. This artist, inventor of the chiaroscuro technique, will be at the head of a very large workshop of which the museum owns an art work, The death of Hyacinthe.
2 The Felix Buhot room
2
F lemish and Italian primitives
2 I talian school
2
(15th-20th centuries)
3 N orthern schools
(16th- 17th centuries)
Baroque art spread out very quickly throughout Europe and appeared in the late 1500’s in the northern countries. Painters such as Jacob Jordaens (The Kings’ adoration), Rubens’ assistant, continue the Italian artists’ lesson and create religious paintings. This period also marks the expansion of still life painting or animal painting. If the Singeries (anonymous) allow artists to describe in a disguised way the society they live in, still life paintings (Flower bouquet by Van Aelst) are an occasion to paint very precisely different materials.
8
7
6
4 F rench school (17th- 19th centuries) From the religious baroque painting by de Champaigne (The Assumption) and classic by Poussin (Pieta, a.1725) to the historical painting by Horace Vernet (Edith finding the body of Harold after the battle of Hastings, 1828), through the still life by Chardin (A kitchen table), the portrait of bourgeois by Rigaud (Paris de Montmartel and his wife) and the animal painting by Oudry (Eagle attacking a rabbit), the Thomas-Henry art museum offers a complete survey of two centuries of French painting.
5 F rench neoclassic school (19th century) Important artistic movement of the late 18th century, neoclassic art was born after the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The movement, marked by a return to classic painting and antique stories, is led by Jacques-Louis David (Patrocle, 1780). Other artists, such as Pannini or Hubert Robert, follow the movement and create landscapes with ruins.
On the fringe of the academism recommended by the Neoclassic school, young artists decide to leave formalism to draw their inspiration directly from nature itself. Theodore Rousseau (Oak pond) is one of these artists: he moves to Barbizon, in the heart of the Fontainebleau forest and paints bare landscapes. Far from the mythological dramas which used to justify sumptuous landscape painting, nature becomes the only subject of these paintings. Impressionism follows the principles of the Barbizon school: nature stays the main subject but, thanks to the invention of paint in a tube, artists can paint outdoors and represent the moment (Defrost by Turbert, 1894).
7 S eascape painting Centred on the CSS Alabama model, southern war ship sunk in 1864 outside Fermanville, the room, dedicated to seascape painting, presents essentially local landscapes: views of the Cotentin coast by Armand-Auguste Fréret and Jean-Louis Petit, several views of the Gatteville lighthouse including one painted by Paul Signac (1934) and scenes commemorating historical events that took place in the Cherbourg harbour (Visit of the Prince-President in 1850 by Morel-Fatio…). You can also admire the lovely Back from fishing with sunset by Eugène Boudin (1860), and a Dolphin hunt by Louis Garneray, first official marine painter.
8 French school (19th century) At the end of the 19th century, when neoclassic art is at its end, romanticism is continued by new artistic movements such as Symbolism (The revelation, Brünnhilde discovering Siegmung and Sieglinde by Gaston Bussière, 1894). The museum also owns an art work by Camille Claudel, Rodin’s student on the fringe of all artistic movements. Giganti or thief’s head, is marked by the expressionism of her master and shows the great portrait skills of the young Claudel: the scornful pout, the haughty look, and the energetic features give this man a wild and noble look.