DOI Heft:
No. 195 (June, 1909)
DOI Artikel:Henriet, Frédéric: Léon Lhermitte, painter of french peasant life
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20967#0026
Ldon Lhermitte
the influence of the students with whom he mixed
may have had in forming his artistic perception.
Leon Augustin Lhermitte was born on 31st July,
1844, at Mont-Saint-Pere, a picturesque village in
the vicinity of Chateau Thierry, situated on a steep
hill which commands a view of the valley of the
Marne. His father, a native of the district, passed
here a long and honoured existence as school-
master. Hillsides planted with vineyards and
wooded at their summits enclose the richly-culti-
vated plains. The country bears a joyous aspect,
clear and varied; the undulating sylvan landscape
is alluring rather than severe. Such is the setting
wherein unfold themselves the countless episodes
of rural life, the joy and ruggedness of which the
painter so ably depicts. Leon Lhermitte was sickly
as a child, and in consequence became solitary and
meditative. During those long days which he was
compelled to spend on his back, he copied for his
own amusement and distraction with pen or pencil
the drawings in the illustrated papers lent him by
kindly neighbours. These drawings he executed
with deceptive fidelity; but far from contracting
his vision, this often somewhat melancholy occu-
pation did not prevent him, when at last returning
health allowed of his essaying to draw from Nature
—how fair must she not have appeared to him
after his long seclusion !—from interpreting her at
the first attempt with great breadth. His excep-
tional gifts attracted attention in high quarters and
gained for the young man a grant from the Govern-
ment, and also a small pension from the Conseil
General of the Department of Aisne, which allowed
of his going to study in Paris.
In 1863 Lhermitte entered the Ecole Imperiale
de Dessin, of which Belloc was the director. This
constitutes, as it were, a kind of preparatory course
through which one passes before entering the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts Besides the obligatory training
under the regular masters of the school, Lhermitte
also took the course of instruction in drawing from
memory, then recently instituted by Lecoq de Bois-
baudran. His interest was keenly aroused by the
novelty of this master’s outlook; he appreciated to
the full his unfettered spirit, liberated from all the
trammels of conventional methods, and recognising
the influence of the students with whom he mixed
may have had in forming his artistic perception.
Leon Augustin Lhermitte was born on 31st July,
1844, at Mont-Saint-Pere, a picturesque village in
the vicinity of Chateau Thierry, situated on a steep
hill which commands a view of the valley of the
Marne. His father, a native of the district, passed
here a long and honoured existence as school-
master. Hillsides planted with vineyards and
wooded at their summits enclose the richly-culti-
vated plains. The country bears a joyous aspect,
clear and varied; the undulating sylvan landscape
is alluring rather than severe. Such is the setting
wherein unfold themselves the countless episodes
of rural life, the joy and ruggedness of which the
painter so ably depicts. Leon Lhermitte was sickly
as a child, and in consequence became solitary and
meditative. During those long days which he was
compelled to spend on his back, he copied for his
own amusement and distraction with pen or pencil
the drawings in the illustrated papers lent him by
kindly neighbours. These drawings he executed
with deceptive fidelity; but far from contracting
his vision, this often somewhat melancholy occu-
pation did not prevent him, when at last returning
health allowed of his essaying to draw from Nature
—how fair must she not have appeared to him
after his long seclusion !—from interpreting her at
the first attempt with great breadth. His excep-
tional gifts attracted attention in high quarters and
gained for the young man a grant from the Govern-
ment, and also a small pension from the Conseil
General of the Department of Aisne, which allowed
of his going to study in Paris.
In 1863 Lhermitte entered the Ecole Imperiale
de Dessin, of which Belloc was the director. This
constitutes, as it were, a kind of preparatory course
through which one passes before entering the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts Besides the obligatory training
under the regular masters of the school, Lhermitte
also took the course of instruction in drawing from
memory, then recently instituted by Lecoq de Bois-
baudran. His interest was keenly aroused by the
novelty of this master’s outlook; he appreciated to
the full his unfettered spirit, liberated from all the
trammels of conventional methods, and recognising