Jean-Jacques Henner

French, 1829 - 1905

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French painter (1829-1905)

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Shown from the knees up, a woman with pale, almost white-colored skin looks out at us in this hazy, shadowy vertical painting. The setting is painted with smudged browns around a corner of electric-blue sky at the upper right. The woman rests her right elbow, to our left, up on a surface, presumably a rocky ledge, but details are difficult to make out. Her shoulders are angled slightly to our left, but her face is turned to us. She looks out with dark eyes under lowered brows. At first glance she seems to look at us, but a closer look shows that outlining around her irises and eyelids indicates that she looks slightly up and to our right. Her lips are closed, and her chin is tucked back. Copper-red hair is parted down the middle and gleams along the center part before falling quickly into shadow as it reaches down past her hips. She rests her chin against a closed fist of the arm propped on the ledge. The other hand sits next to the elbow on the ledge. One sapphire-blue sleeve falls off her sleeveless, low-cut dress, which falls straight off the bottom edge of the painting. The scene is painted with blended strokes, including the woman’s features, so has a soft, ethereal look. The artist signed the brown area near the lower left with honey-yellow paint, “J J HENNER.”
Jean-Jacques Henner, Standing Woman, c. 1903, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Edward C. and Mary Walker Collection), 2015.19.63

Standing Woman

Jean-Jacques Henner · c. 1903 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.63

Jean-Jacques Henner, Madame Uhring, 1890, oil on wood, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.33

Madame Uhring

Jean-Jacques Henner · 1890 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  1963.10.33

Jean-Jacques Henner, Alsatian Girl, 1873, oil on wood, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.32

Alsatian Girl

Jean-Jacques Henner · 1873 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  1963.10.32

Carved in high relief in white marble, a woman and the baby she holds are framed within a curved arch. The woman’s body faces us, but she turns her face to look down at the baby tucked into her left arm, to our right. The woman’s long hair is pulled back under a twisted band, and a few tendrils fall on her face. Her nose is pointed, and she has full lips over a narrow chin. Her dress is fastened on the chest with a button or brooch and is tied across the chest and high around the waist. The garment has elbow-length sleeves, and it falls in a swag across her hips over a long skirt that stops just short of her sandaled feet. The fabric is sheer so one nipple is visible, and the fabric gathers in fine, shallow folds. Her other elbow is bent and held by her side, and the fingers on both hands are noticeably long. The child turns a chubby face up to the woman and crosses his hands over his chest. He is covered only by a cloth across his middle, and he has short, wavy hair. Pudgy rolls make creases on his neck, arms, and especially chunky thighs. The niche in which they stand has a fluted shell in the rounded portion above molding. The remaining niche is smooth, and the entire sculpture is set into a tan-colored wall.
Jean-Jacques Henner, Reclining Nude, n.d., oil on canvas, Timken Collection, 1960.6.22

Reclining Nude

Jean-Jacques Henner · n.d. · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1960.6.22

M.G. Fuchs, Levite of Ephraim and His Dead Wife, c. 1898, lithograph on wove paper [proof], Gift of A. Thompson Ellwanger III, 2000.175.5

Levite of Ephraim and His Dead Wife

M.G. Fuchs · c. 1898 · lithograph on wove paper [proof] ·  Accession ID  2000.175.5