Pierre Amédée Marcel-Béronneau (1869-1937)
NAME: Orphée
SIGNED: Signed Lower Right
MEDIUM: Oil on Canvas
SIZE: 42 x 33 cm (16.5 x 13 inches)
IMAGE is ACTUAL ARTWORK
Provenance : Vente Guy Loudmer, Hôtel Drouot, 11 décembre 1989 Joint le catalogue de vente du temps et une brochure.
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Pierre Amédée Marcel-Béronneau (1869-1937) was a French painter known for his symbolist and allegorical works. He was born in Bordeaux and studied under the renowned Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, whose style heavily influenced his art.
Marcel-Béronneau was heavily influenced by his mentor Gustave Moreau and had a penchant for painting ornate scenes and hypnotic female figures from mythology, biblical stories, and exotic histories, rendered with meticulous detail and rich colors. The Salome subject was one of his most recurring inspirations.Marcel-Béronneau is considered one of Moreau's true heirs, creating refined and poetic paintings with mythological and biblical themes. His works often featured female figures in dreamlike settings, rendered with meticulous detail and rich colors. One of his notable paintings is "Salomé," depicting the biblical femme fatale.
During his lifetime, Marcel-Béronneau achieved recognition and his paintings were sought after by collectors. His works have been exhibited and auctioned at prestigious venues like Sotheby's, fetching significant prices. Today, his art is represented in various galleries and private collections around the world.
Pierre Amédée Marcel-Béronneau's influence on other artists of his time was relatively limited, as he was part of a smaller symbolist movement that ran counter to the mainstream avant-garde styles emerging in the early 20th century. However, his works did have an impact on a few contemporaries:
1. Gustave Moreau's Students
As a devoted student of Gustave Moreau, Marcel-Béronneau's symbolist style and mythological themes influenced some of Moreau's other pupils, such as Georges Rouault (with whom he briefly shared a studio). However, Rouault eventually moved in a different stylistic direction.
2. Joséphin Péladan's Rose+Croix Movement
Marcel-Béronneau was associated with the Rose+Croix movement led by Joséphin Péladan, exhibiting at the Salons organized by Péladan between 1892-1897. His mystical symbolist works aligned with the vision of this esoteric group, influencing other Rose+Croix artists like Alexandre Séon and Alphonse Osber.
3. Eroticism and Femmes Fatales
While not a direct influence, Marcel-Béronneau's sensual depictions of biblical femmes fatales like Salome shared some similarities with the more overtly erotic works of contemporaries like Franz von Stuck. The Stair Sainty Gallery notes that "Marcel-Béronneau may be considered Moreau's closest disciple, but he was also influenced by the more powerful eroticism of Franz von Stuck”.
Overall, Marcel-Béronneau's impact was largely confined to the symbolist circle and the Rose+Croix movement, as the mainstream art world was rapidly moving towards modernist styles like Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism by the early 20th century. His influence remained niche, appreciated by collectors and symbolist enthusiasts rather than driving broader artistic movements of his era.