Jean Joveneau

JEAN JOVENEAU (Paris, 1888 - 1950).
"Portrait of Marie Laurencin", 1914.
Oil on canvas.
Signed on the upper right. Dated 1914 on the back.
Measurements: 100 x 81 cm; 120 x 100 cm (frame).

In this work of 1914, Jean Joveneau presents us with a vivid portrait of the painter Marie Laurencin, embodying an artist of character, free and independent. At the age of 31, Laurencin, a modern and emancipated woman, is amusing and provocative. She plays with masculine and feminine codes by combining a top hat, traditionally worn by men when going out, with a feminine outfit composed of an evening dress, a fan and white gloves. Jean Joveneau knew how to enhance this personality with an atypical face. The soft colors are in the tones of Marie Laurencin's palette.

Jean Joveneau trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, at the Académie Julian, at Tony Robert-Fleury's studio and finally with the landscape painter Luigi Loir. At the beginning of his career he had a studio on the boulevard Henri IV, where he produced, in addition to still lifes of flowers, views of the island Saint-Louis. Later he focused on large still lifes and broad landscapes in which he sought a plastic harmony of cubist tendency, but without ever reaching abstraction. He made his debut at the Salon in 1903 and obtained his first successes in 1908. He attracted the attention of the gallery owner Bernheim Jeune, who exhibited his work in 1911 with Maximilien Luce and Henri Matisse, and dedicated a solo exhibition to him in 1923. He also exhibited abroad (Cologne, Rome and Hanover, among other European cities). His works are highly appreciated by French and foreign collectors. Robert de Rothschild bought several paintings by Joveneau.