Raffaëlli, Jean-Marius

Impressionism, the partakers of the expositions:

Jean-Marius Raffaëlli (1859/60-82)

or: Marius-Joseph Raffaëlli (1861-82)

The forgotten younger brother

 

 

Jean-Marius Raffaëlli, a short biography:
Jean-Marius Raffaëlli also known as Marius-Joseph was born in Paris. The ULAN and other sources write that he was born in 1861 and that he died in 1882. But Delteil writes he died at the age of 22 in Kayes, which would mean he was born in 1860 or even in 1859. Delteil also writes that Jean-Marius was the younger brother of the more famous Jean-François Raffaëlli, who was born in 1850. Other sources don’t confirm this. In 1880 at the age of 19 (or 20) Jean-Marius exhibited 6 untitled etchings at the 5th ‘impressionist’ exposition. In 1882 he died in Kayes, which lies now in Mali, close to the Senegal border (Delteil wrote he died in Senegal). There is hardly anything known about him and probably he didn’t make many art-works of which just 6 are known.

 

Jean-Marius Raffaëlli only joined the ‘impressionist’ exposition of 1880:
At the 5th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1880 Jean-Marius Raffaëlli showed 6 etchings. In the catalogue under number 180 described as ‘Six eaux fortes’ (R2,p314;R90I,p263;iR1). In the catalogue is mentioned that he lived at 4, Rue de Ravignan, Paris, which lies between the Moulin Rouge and the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre (see maps). Jean-Marius did exhibit beside the more famous Jean-François Raffaëlli, who exhibited at least 44 works.
Moffett refers to the appendix of a work of Delteil dedicated to Jean-François Raffaëlli (R2,p314+486;aR1=R138XVI), in which Delteil renders in the ‘apocryphes’ 6 etchings of Jean-Marius. Delteil writes: “The previous 6 works, that are originally signed Marius, and later on Raffaëlli the younger, are made by a younger brother of J-F Raffaëlli, Marius Raffaëlli, who died very young in Kayes (Sénégal) at the age of 22, who has produced very little.” (Delteil XVI, 1923,p202). Berson renders the same 6 etchings (R90II,p173/4) and adds titles (R90II,p156) and describes the signature ‘Raffaelli Jne’. I here render the images from Delteil, which I found in the Bibliotheque National de France (iR40) and which I reworked. Some titles of Berson I changed a bit. Berson doesn’t refer to reviews (R90II,p156) and most reviews just refer to M. Raffaëlli, meaning Jean-François (R90I,p265-319). This and the fact that Jean-Marius didn’t give titles to his exhibited etchings, makes it impossible to clearly identify the works. So I render the pictures as uncertain possibilities.

 

Jean-Marius Raffaëlli is not or hardly mentioned in sources:
On the internet the ULAN (aR2) mentions Jean-Marius Raffaëlli was a French printmaker and most known as Marius-Joseph and that he was born in 1861 and died in 1882. WikiData (aR3) take over this data of ULAN and VIAF.org (aR4) takes it over from ULAN and WikiData. PeoplePill.com (aR5) also mention these data. This would mean that he exhibited with the ‘impressionist’ at the age of about 19 and that he died at the age of about 21. The ULAN uses the ‘Bibliography of the History of Art’ of 1973 as source (aR2). The ULAN also mentions that Jean-Marius Raffaëlli is mentioned in the book of Joel Isaacson ‘Crises of Impressionism’ of 1980 (aR2). Other internet sites only mention he did partake at the 5th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1880 (iR59; iR62). This is also mentioned in an e-book written by Dominique Lobstein.
Delteil mentions that Jean-Marius died in Kayes in Senegal in 1882 (aR1=R138XVI). But Delteil mentions he was 22 years old, which would mean he was born in 1860 or even 1859 instead of 1861. Kayes is nowadays a city in Mali, close to the Senegal border, see map (iR9), it lies along the Senegal river, in the Kayes region of Mali. In 1881 it became a military outpost of the French colony in Senegal and in 1892 became the capital of French Sudan (aR8=iR3). So probably Jean-Marius Raffaëlli died in Mali. At the age of 22 (or 21) he probably was here because of his military service. In his discription of Guinée and French Sudan, Jean-François Raffaëlli mentions in 1895 one time Kayes (aR9,p31), but there is no reference to his younger brother Jean-Marius.
In his book Walther only mentions that Jean-Marius Raffaëlli probably was a graphic artist and joined the 1880 exposition (R3,p690). He doesn’t give a date of birth or decease, nor does Moffett (R2,p508). Spiess omits to distinguish between the more known Jean-François Raffaëlli and Jean-Marius Raffaëlli (R16,p373). All the other sources don’t mention him at all, not even Monneret (R88), nor Schurr & Cabanne (R9). It is interesting to read what sources tell about the youth of Jean-François, who was born in 1850 and who according to Delteil was the older brother of Jean-Marius. Monneret, who doesn’t mention Jean-Marius at all, mentions that their father was a chemist and of origin Italian. Their mother came from Lyon, where Jean-François was born. Around 1860 the family moved to Paris. (R88I,p703). Note: other sources state that Jean-François was born in Paris (iR1;iR79;iR15;iR22).
Searching on the internet for Jean-Marius Raffaëlli I could not find any pictures at all, not at Wikimedia (iR6), Google images (iR10), Joconde (iR23), gallica.bnf.fr (iR40; exept for the Delteil source, but a search doesn’t render it), nor at the New York Public Library (iR61). On the internet you mostly find works of his more famous older brother Jean-François Raffaëlli, who signes his works with J-F Raffaëlli’, which distinguishes him clearly from Jean-Marius. But not all of the works attributed to Jean-François are signed. So it’s especially interesting to research the unsigned etchings attributed to Jean-François Raffaëlli, if it is possible that they could be made by Jean-Marius. But since Jean-Marius died very young he didn’t produce a lot of art-work.
As far as I know, Jean-Marius Raffaëlli never did participate at the Salon (iR1).

 

Sources:
My main sources are Delteil (1923=R138XVI,p201/2=aR1), Berson (1996=R90II,p156+173/4), Moffett (1986, R2), Monneret (1978-81=R88I,p703) and Walther (2013=R3,p690). For other general references (=R) see. My main sources from the internet is the ULAN (iR60=aR2) and the Bibliothèque National de France (iR40). 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 see:
Isaacson, Joel: The crisis of Impressionism, 1878-1886, exhibition catalogue. Michigan, 1980 (=R175)
Bibliography of the History of Art’. ?, 1973.
Books on (the youth of) Jean-François Raffaëlli.

Additional references:

  1. Delteil, Loys: Le peintre-graveur illustré (XIXe siècle). Vol.16: J.F. Raffaëlli. Paris: privately printed, 1923; =R138XVI (=iR40).
  2. Getty.edu (Thesaurus of artists and people by the Getty Research Institute or: Getty Union List of Artist Names = ULAN; ©2004 J.Paul Getty Trust = iR60)
  3. WikiData.org (refers to ULAN; =iR66)
  4. VIAF.org   (refers to ULAN and WikiData; =iR294)
  5. upclosed.com//PeoplePill.com (mentions Jean-Marius / Marius-Joseph Raffaëlli as an engraver who was born in 1861 and died in 1882 at the age of 21; =iR293)
  6. Metropolitan (the Metropolitan mentions a photo made by J.J. (or T.T.) around 1899 of (probably) Marius Joseph Raffaelli (18x12cm). The photo is not rendered. There is an inscription on the back:  “To Mr. Samuel // P. Avery // J.R. Raffaëlli // New.York // X [?] 99″; Photographer’s blindstamp, recto BC: JJ [TT?] // [coat of arms with crown and wreath] Paris. // 3, Place de la Madeleine”. Under provenance is mentioned: ‘From the sitter to Samuel P. Avery Sr.; […]; Albert Ten Eyck Gardner’. The given date is 17 years after Marius Raffaëlli died and the ‘J.R. Raffaëlli’ more likely refers to J-F = Jean-François.
  7. Lucien Monod (in his book aide-mémoire de l’amateur et du professionnel he refers to the appendix of Delteil about Marius Raffaëlli, see aR1; see preview on books.google.nl=iR131)
  8. wikipedia//French-Sudan (article on French-Sudan; = iR3)
  9. gallica.bnf.fr//En_Guinee_1895 (online version of a publication of Jean-François Raffaëlli in 1895 titled ‘En Guinée’; =iR40)
  11. x

 

Recommanded citation: “Jean-Marius Raffaëlli, a forgotten partaker of the 5th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1880”. Last modified 2021/05/22.  https://www.impressionism.nl/raffaelli-jean-marius/.