Bracquemond, Félix

 

 

Impressionism: partaker of 3 ‘impressionist’ expositions

Félix Bracquemond

(1833-1914)

an engraver between Realism and Impressionism

Was Félix Bracquemond an Impressionist?
Félix Bracquemond exhibited at 3 of the 8 ‘impressionist’ expositions. He was very active within the ‘impressionist’ circles. So, Félix Bracquemond clearly was part of the impressionist art-movement, but he also clearly was not one of the key-figures.
The few oil paintings Félix Bracquemond made until 1869 were quite traditional in the line of Ingres (R73,p25;R88). Bracquemond emphasized the importance of line above that of colour (R73,p9+21). In that sense he was not an Impressionist. In several of his etchings Bracquemond tried to render the influence of weather, time of day and season, clearly impressionist motives. One etch was even called ‘an impressionist study’↓. But overall Félix Bracquemond was more a Realist than an Impressionist.

Félix Bracquemond exhibited at the ‘impressionist’ expositions in 1874 + 79 + 80:
In 1874 Félix Bracquemond joined the 1st ‘impressionist’ exposition with 33 works; 1 drawing and 32 etchings. They were listed in just 6 catalogue numbers (23-28), the etchings were presented within frames. With these 33 works Félix Bracquemond exhibited far out the most art-works and in that sense he was the most important artist of the 1st ‘impressionist’ exposition. It also can be seen as a retrospective of his work, some of these works also were first exhibited at the Salon. This made him a sort of guest of honour within this 1st independent exposition where many quite unknown artists were fighting for recognition.
Bracquemond was reviewed in 13 of the 36 articles. His etchings are called ‘free’, ‘marvellous’, ‘original’ and ‘masterpieces’. They are also called ‘coloured’*, which would mean that (some) were coloured etchings. His drawing is called ‘real pearl’. Chesnau didn’t think it was a good idea to invite Bracquemond.
Félix Bracquemond accepted to join shortly before the opening. Degas had written him the 27th of March or the 3rd of April**. He is absent in the list of contributors. (R410,p104+257; R415,p366;R1,p339+314R22I,p107). He was not present at the liquidation meeting (R415,p368). He  joined the ‘impressionist’ expositions again in 1879 +80. All these years he hadn’t exhibited at the Salon. For the Salon of 1874 he received 11 votes for the jury (section gravure). He was not appointed (R337=iR19). Did this inspire him to join the 1st ‘impressionist’ exposition?

In 1879 Félix Bracquemond joined the 4th ‘impressionist’ exposition with 4 works, all etchings (catalogue numbers 3-6).
In 1880 Félix Bracquemond joined the 5th ‘impressionist’ exposition with probably 26 works, 1 drawing and probably 25 etchings for faience tableware (catalogue numbers 4+5).
It is unclear to me why Félix Bracquemond didn’t join the 2nd and 3rd ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1876 and 1877. Anyway, all these years he didn’t exhibit at the Salon. In 1881 again he exhibited at the successor the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français (=SdAF). And that was why he was excluded by Degas in 1886, while his wife Marie Bracquemond participated.
See link for his art-works exhibited in 1874, 1879 and 1880. See link for an account of the exhibited works (references, translations, info, discussion, locations on Google-maps).
Note*: by Burty (18784/04/25), d’Hervilly (1874/04/17),
Note**: The idea of Rappard-Boon that Bracquemond was among the co-founders is not correct (R73,p17).

Félix Bracquemond at the Salon and other exhibitions:
Before and after Félix Bracquemond exhibited at the ‘impressionist’ expositions, he exhibited at the Salon.
He made his debut in 1852 and thereafter exhibited almost yearly in in 1853 +1857 +1859 +1861 +1864 +1865  +1866 +1867 +1869 +1870 +1872. In 1863 he was rejected and joined the Salon des Refusés (=SdR).
After he joined the ‘impressionist’ expositions in 1874 + 1879 + 1880, Bracquemond exhibited at the successor of the Salon, at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français (=SdAF) in 1881 +1882 +1883 +1884 +1886 +1887 +1889. Thereafter he choose for the alternative Salon de la Société National des Beaux-Arts (=SNBA) and exhibited there in 1891 +1892 +1893. In 1902 he exhibited applied-art and in 1907 a there was a large retrospective in Salle D woth about 300 art-works (210 catalogue numbers) (aR22;iR284;R88I,p76;iR19//ia804607).

Félix Bracquemond also exhibited at the Expositions Universelle (=EU). In 1855 he showed 1 ‘dessin’ and 4 engravings. In 1867 he showed one engraving. The Rousseau dinner service, for which Bracquemond he made the decorations, also was exhibited in 1867 (R73,p11). In 1878 he (probably) was involved in a decoration and a ceramique plate. In 1889 he showed at the ‘Oeuvres d’Art’ (=OdA; or Decennial exhibition) 12 engravings and 1 etch at a special exhibition of the ‘ville de Paris’. He also exhibited at the Centennial exposition (=C) 2 pastels and 6 engravings. In 1900 he showed 5 etchings at the Decennial exposition (EU-D-1900). And also 2 pastels (1hc), 5 etchings and 1 lithograph at the centennial exposition (=EU-C-1900).
In 1863 he joined a regional exhibition in Lyon (=Lyon-1863).
In 1885 Bracquemond joined the 2nd exposition of Les XX (=2XX-1885) in Brussels and showed 6 art-works (probably all engravings).
There have been some solo exhibitions. In 1891 (from February till July) at the Musée de  Luxembourg (121 numbers) (aR19). In 1907 a large retrospective with about 300 art-works at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, see above. 1927/05/20 – 06/? there was an exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, with 95 numbers (aR19;iR195).
See for more information the account. See link for some pictures at the Salon and other exhibitions.

Félix Bracquemond was an awarded artist:
Félix Bracquemond was a highly awarded artist.
He was commanded to make an etch of the portrait of Erasme. It was refused for the Salon of 1863 and exhibited at the Salon des Refusés. In 1864 it was as yet exhibited at the Salon and then it was already part of the Louvre. (iR1)
He received a (3rd class) medal for his oil painting exhibited at the Salon in 1866 (R73,p8+25;iR1;R259) and in 1868 a (3rd class) medal for an etch (R259). In 1868+1869+1870 he exhibited ‘exempté’. In 1872 he received a 2nd class medal. In 1881 he received a 1st class medal. He exhibted ‘hors concours’ 1881 onwards.
In 1882 he was appointed as Chevalier in the Légion d’Honneur.
In 1884 he received a Médaille d’Honneur at the Salon.
In 1889 he was appointed as Officier in the Légion d’Honneur.
In 1890 he was appointed as Président d’honneur of the Société des peintres graveurs. In 1895 he was appointed as Président d’honneur of the Société des peintres lithographes. (R88I,p76).
In 1900 he received a grande medaille d’honneur (Grand Prix de Gravure) at the Expositions Universelle (R3,p650;R16,p81;R88I,p76;aR18).
In 1907 he was honoured with a large retrospective at the Salon de la Société National des Beaux-Arts (=SNBA) (aR22;iR284;iR19;iR1;R231;R337;R88I,p76).

A realist within the impressionist art-movement:
Rappard-Boon suggests that his rejection at the Salon in 1863 motivated Félix Bracquemond to join the independent Société des Aquafortistes (R73,p7). But he co-founded this society earlier in 1861/62. In 1868 he was part of a publication of the ‘Société de peintres-graveurs‘ (aR10=iR40). So, Bracquemond was active in independent societies of artists. In 1867 Bracquemond supported the plea of Bazille for an independent exhibition (though he was accepted at the Salon himself). In 1870 he repeated this plea himself.
Bracquemond wasn’t one of the co-founders* of the ‘Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc‘ (R410,p103). At the 1st impressionist exposition in 1874 he exhibited 33 works, which made him far out the artist showing the most works (15% of the total). In 1879 he showed 4 and in 1880 he showed probably 26 works. Still, in books on Impressionism you will not often find his name and almost no picture of one of his works. Moffett and Walther reproduce just one picture (R2,p318;R3,p208). There are two main reasons for this. 1. Félix Bracquemond is more a Realist than an Impressionist. And 2. Bracquemond merely was an etcher and almost didn’t paint.

Braquemond was befriended with Degas and related painters as Fantin-Latour, Manet and Whistler. He portrayed many (‘impressionist’) artists and corresponded with several of them, namely Manet. He took part of the meetings at Café Guerbois in the late 1860’s and in Café Nouvelle-Athènes in the early 1870’s (R88;R3,p650;R16,p81;R73,p17;aR18). These many contacts make him part of the ‘impressionist’ circles.
As already mentioned, in his style Félix Bracquemond was more a Realist, rendering many details, laying emphasize on line and painting in his studio (aR18). But in some etchings we can discover impressionist themes, rendering the influence of weather conditions. In his later decorations for tableware we can see Bracquemond as a forerunner of the Art-Nouveau style.
Note*: Rappard-Boon wrongly states he was (R73,p17)

Félix Bracquemond was an engraver:
Félix Bracquemond far most was an engraver. Though he received drawing lessons from Joseph Guichard (see 1IE-1874-5) in 1848, and was inspired by Pichard and Diderot, Bracquemond was an autodidact. Only since 1872 Bracquemond had his own etching press, before that he let his etchings press by others, merely by Auguste Delâtre. In the second half of the 19th century in France one could not earn much by making etchings and Bracquemond did know poverty. Engraving was often used for making reproductions of paintings and Bracquemond did so many times and exhibited several of them (R88; see 1IE-1874-25). Bracquemond also made many portraits, especially of people involved in the artistic scenes (R88;R73,p5; see 1IE-1874-24). He advised many artists in engraving, including Degas, Gauguin, Pissarro, pre-impressionists like Corot, Courbet, Millet and Rousseau, and he advised also Manet.
Bracquemond experienced with several procedures and techniques. He invented ‘la procédé à la plume’, with which one directly draws with a pen at the etching plate. In 1873 he also reinvented the colour etch (see 4IE-1879-3). Around 1879 and 1880 Félix Bracquemond was involved in the founding of a revue called ‘Le jour et la nuit’, together with Cassatt, Degas and Pissarro (R84,p236;R88). Bracquemond made many states of one etch, being not quickly satisfied with the result. His etchings are of an unstable quality. His refined landscapes done with a dry needle are the best of his oeuvre. (R73,p5-21;R88;iR1).
Famous is the catalogue of Beraldi of his etchings published in 1885 and 1892 (aR14=R85III; aR16=R85XIII) . This means his works after 1889 / 1892 are less well known and documentated. Bracquemond made many copies of paintings, also for (auction) catalogues. He also made serveral frontipieces and illustrations for books  (aR14=R85).

Félix Bracquemond and applied art:
Félix Bracquemond is also known for the etchings he made to be printed on dinner services. Already in 1857 he worked at a faïence factory. He received fame for his designs made for the Rousseau service in 1866. Bracquemond used Japanese motifs found in albums of Hokusai, Hiroshige and Taito. Bracquemond used different motifs for different tableware. This Rousseau dinner service was exhibited at the ‘Exposition Universelle‘ in 1867 (R73,p11). It has been succesfully sold untill the second World War (R73,p17).
In 1871 he works 6 or 7 months at the ‘Manufacture de Sèvres‘. In 1872 he became artistic director at a (decoration) studio of the faience factory Haviland in Auteuil and would do so until 1881 (Walther mentions 1879;R3). Bracquemond made several series of tableware. ‘Service Parisien’ designed in 1875/76 (R73,p17+20) contained landscapes rendered under different weather conditions (a very impressionistic motif) and animal and plant motifs. In 1878 he designed ‘Le bestiaire’, on which he used animal and plant motifs. More fast is his ‘service à fleurs et rubins’ (Eng.: Flower and Ribbon Dinner Service), see Beraldi no.674-720 (R85=aR14). In his work you can see a forerunner of the Art-Nouveau (R73,p20).
For his applied art Bracquemond would use several techniques like woodcarving, embroideries, ‘emaux cloissonés + ajour’. Together with Alexandre Charpentier, Jules Chéret, (Besnard and Rodin) he made several decorative designs for the mansion ‘La Sapinière’ in Evian of Baron J. Vitta (or: Vita). Some of these works were exhibited at the SNBA in 1902. (R73,p5-21;R88;iR1;aR9)

Félix Bracquemond, a short biography:

  • 1833/05/22: born in Paris as Joseph Auguste Bracquemond (R73,p6;R88;R3,p650; iR3;iR1)
  • 1848: Death of his father, who had been a tailor and caretaker (R73,p6)
  • 1848: Félix Bracquemond was a pupil of Joseph-Benoît Guichard (1806-80)  (R73,p6;R88;R5,p257; R3,p650; R16,p81;iR1)
  • 1849: made his first etching, a copy of L’Anesse et l’ânon of Boissieu (R88)
  • 1852: debut at the Salon with a pastel of his grandmother (R3,p650;R88;R16,p81;iR1)
  • 1856: Bracquemond discovered some Japanese albums (of Hokusaï) and got interested in Japanese (and Chinese) art and inspires many fellow artists (R73,p19;R88;R5,p17;R3)
  • 1862/06: with Legros co-founder of the ‘Société des Aquafortistes’. Monneret writes this foundation was in 1862 and Seymour Haden was also a co-founder (R88). They were supported by Cadart. Corot, Courbet, Daubigny, Fantin-Latour, Manet, Puvis de Chavannes, Whistler and others were members. (see above; R73,p18;R88)
  • 1863: exhibited at the Salon des Refusés (R5,p25;iR1)
  • 1864: along with Legros and related painters as Whistler and Manet, Bracquemond stood model for the group-portrait of Fantin-Latour ‘Hommage à Delacroix’ (see below; R5,p28)
  • 1867: A portrait by Bracquemond of Manet is published in ‘L’Artiste’ (see above; R5,p43)
  • 1869/08/05: married Marie Bracquemond-Quivoron who joined the 4th, 5th and 8th ‘impressionist’ exposition (see above; iR67;iR3;R3,p650;R73,p8)
  • 1869: Bracquemond stopped making paintings (R73,p8), with the exception of some pastels and watercolours (R88).
    Note: Still there are paintings painted around 1911 attributed to Félix Bracquemond (iR13), with about the same signature and the same theme and style as a pastel from 1911 attributed to Marie Bracquemond auctioned 2008/05/21 (iR11;iR22;aR6). This theme and style doesn’t resemble that of Félix nor of Marie Bracquemond, but it does resemble the style of Pierre Bracquemond, their son (iR10;iR11;iR6). So I assume these works are of Pierre.
  • 1871: stayed in London (R73,p44)
  • 1874: Bracquemond exhibited the most works at the 1st ‘impressionist’ exposition (see)
    1874-1893: From at least 1874 till at least 1893 Bracquemond lived at 13, Rue Brancas in Sèvres (iR1;R2,p266+310+443)
    (parallel to it there now is a Avenue Félix Bracquemond (iR9)
    from at least 1852 till at least 1870 he had lived at various adresses in Paris (iR1), see account.
  • 1879: Bracquemond exhibited 4 works at the 4th ‘impressionist’ exposition (see).
  • 1880: Bracquemond has succes at the 5th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1880 (see) with his portrait of Edmond de Goncourt (see above). He is praised for his finished and ‘Ingres-like’ way of drawing and thus is opposed to the independents / impressionists (R2,p318; R5,p119).
  • 1881-89: Bracquemond exhibited at the Société des Artistes Française (iR1; see account)
  • 1881: The health of Bracquemond declined (R73,p9)
  • 1882: appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur (R88)
  • 1884: received a médaille d’Honneur at the Salon (R88)
  • 1885: Bracquemond exhibits 6 works at ‘Les XX‘ in Brussels; many of them he earlier exhibited at the Société des Artistes Française (iR1; see account)
  • 1885: published ‘Du dessin et de la couleur’ dealing on engraving (see below; aR8=R341;R3,p650;R73,p21;R88) Denvir incorrectly mentions this was in 1886 (R5,p257). In this work Félix Bracquemond defended the absolute supremacy of ‘modelling’, the organized distribution of black and white values (R168,p238).
  • 1886: Degas wrote Bracquemond he didn’t may join the 8th ‘impressionist’ exposition because he has submitted to the Salon (see above; R5,p151)
  • 1889/01/23: first exhibition of the ‘Société des Peintres-Graveurs’ by Durand-Ruel including Bracquemond, Pissarro, Cassatt and Redon (R5,p168;R73,p18;R44,p28). Other exhibitions would follow and Félix Bracquemond was an important force behind them and was the first president (R44,p28;R88). In 1891 they excluded artists who were not French by birth, thus excluding Pissarro and Cassatt who had their own exhibition at Durand-Ruel (R44,p31).
  • 1889: appointed Officier de Legion d’Honneur (iR3)
  • 1890: active within the ‘Société des peintres lithographes‘ (R88)
  • 1891-1907: Bracquemond exhibited at the Société National des Beaux-Arts (iR1; see account)
  • 1900: received the ‘Grand Prix de Gravure’ at the Exposition Universelle (R3,p650; R16,p81;R88)
  • 1907: retrospective of his works at the Société National des Beaux-Arts.
    Catalogue at bibliothèque.specialisees.paris.fr (iR284) + archive.org (iR19//ia804607).
  • 1914/09/15 Félix Bracquemond died at the age of 81 in Paris (R5,p236); other sources mention this was in 1914/10/29 (iR3;iR67)

Sources:
My main sources are books on Félix Bracquemond: of Rappard-Boon (1993=R73);
The catalogue raisonné, oeuvre gravé 1849-1859 of Bouillon (1987=R52);
The catalogue of his etchings by Beraldi: Volume III: (1885=R85III=aR14) + Vol.XIII (1892=R85XIII==aR16): I Portraits (no.1-96 +774-777); II Eaux-fortes originales (pointes-sèches, essais de procédés, etc.) (no.97-225 + 778-782); III Reproductions (no.226-349 + 783-793); IV Vignettes (no.350-501 + 794-807); V Ex-Libris (Marques d’éditeurs, cartes d’invitation, diplômes) (no.502-529 +808); Céramique (décors divers) (no.530-737 +809); VII Lithographes (no.738-773 +810).
Additional sources are Moffett (1986=R2), Berson (1996=R90), Monneret (1978-81=R88I,p74-76), Walther (2013=R3,p650), Denvir (1993=R5), Bouillon in Pfeiffer (2008=R168), the BNF (iR40) and the Salon database (iR1). For other general references (=R) see. My main sources (for the pictures) from the internet are Wikimedia (iR6), NYPL digital collection (=aR1=iR61) and Google images (iR10). For other references to internet sites (=iR) see. For other additional references (=aR) see below. See links for practical hints and abbreviations and for the subscription of the paintings.

 

For further reading:
Léonce Bénédite: Catalogue des oeuvres exposées de Bracquemond. Expositions périodiques d’estampes: première exposition, exh. cat., Librairies-imprimeries réunies (Paris, France, 1897).

Additional references (=aRx):

  1. NYPL digital collection / Félix Bracquemond (823 pictures !) (=iR61)
  2. Félix Bracquemond et les Arts décoratifs (digital reverence to a book)
  3. aubainmarie.fr  (6 plates engraved by Bracquemond)
  4. expertissim.com  (info on Bracquemonds Service pour Haviland)
  5. petitpalaisparis (info on Bracquemonds Service pour Haviland)
  6. Christies.com (info on Bracquemonds Service pour Haviland)
  7. Van Gogh museum (12 prints of Félix Bracquemond)
  8. gallica.bnf.fr//du_dessin_et_de_la_couleur (internet version book du dessin et de la couleur by Félix Bracquemond, 1885; =iR40=R341)
  9. gallica.bnf.fr// Rousseau_service (25 pictures of etchings made for the Rousseau dinner service; =iR40)
  10. gallica.bnf.fr//felix_bracquemond (starting page for info and pictures on Félix Bracquemond; =iR40)
  11. Joconde (108 works associated with Bracquemond, including faïence; =iR23)
  12. Wikipedia (info and pictures on Félix Bracquemond; =iR3)
  13. Artnet.com (288 works at auctions of Bracquemond; =iR13)
  14. gallica.bnf.fr//henri_beraldi_tome_3 (the entire 3th Volume of Henri Beraldi: Les graveurs du XIXe siècle about Bracquemond; =iR40 = R85III)
  15. vanished impressionists 4 (article about vanished impressionists like Félix Bracquemond; =iR35)
  16. gallica.bnf.fr//henri_beraldi_tome_13 (the entire 13th Volume of Henri Beraldi: Les graveurs du XIXe siècle with supplements about Bracquemond; =iR40 = R85XIII)
  17.  “Félix Bracquemond.” In Database of Modern Exhibitions (DoME). European Paintings and Drawings 1905-1915. Last modified Jun 22, 2020. http://exhibitions.univie.ac.at/person/ulan/500023048  =iR261; overview of contributions of Félix Bracquemond in exhibitions and auctions from 1905-1915 (3 entries)
  18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1357962 (article on Marie Bracquemond by Jean-Paul Bouillon and Elizabeth Kane; Woman’s Art Journal; Vol. 5, No. 2 (Autumn, 1984 – Winter, 1985), pp. 21-27; Published by: Woman’s Art Inc.)
  19. artcurial.com//6006 (auction sale 2024/04/30 of many works by Marie and Félix Bracquemond; =iR201)
  20. interencheres.com//629967 (also renders the 2024/04/30 auction sale, see aR24; =iR87)
  21. 1stdibs.com//bracquemond (render many reproductions of works of Félix Bracquemond; =iR421)
  22. Catalogue retrospective 1907 at the Société National des Beaux-Arts: at bibliothèque.specialisees.paris.fr (iR284) + archive.org (iR19//ia804607).
  23. See first and second catalogue of the auction sale 2024/04/30 (see aR19) on issuu.com (=iR224)

 

Recommanded citation: “Félix Bracquemond; an engraver between Realism and Impressionism. Last modified 2025/05/31. https://www.impressionism.nl/bracquemond-felix/.”