Jules Raymond Koenig Alsatian Painter Large Format ´´les Archets´´

Jules Raymond KOENIG Les archets large oil on canvas mounted on panel signed lower left, format without frame 170cm x 100cm. Born in 1872 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Jules lost his father at the age of 3 and was raised by his mother, Noémi, with the help of his uncles and aunts, among his 42 cousins. His mother and he settled in Paris, bd Arago in 1885 and he entered the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. After his baccalaureate and a long stay in England and Scotland, he returned to Paris and entered the Atelier Merson in 1891 where he became friends with Thiry, de Meuron, Gruyer, Morax, de Geymuller. He moved with his mother to 16 rue Guynemer in 1893. In 1894, he joined the Atelier of Jean-Paul Laurens. Portrait of Denise Haffner, a 6-year-old girl whom he married 17 years later. This was also the beginning of the Dreyfus Affair; Jules was very involved in its defense committee until 1899. After his military service in 1895, he was admitted to the Beaux-Arts and in 1896 joined the studio of Gustave Moreau, later nicknamed "La cage aux fauves". He was the youngest student there and rubbed shoulders with Rouault, Matisse, Flandrin, Camoin, Dabadie, Marquet, Manguin, Evenepoel. First successes in 1901 on the occasion of the exhibition of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He exhibited there every year until 1913. This was followed by a long period of commissions for portraits and decorative panels in Paris and Alsace, as well as numerous trips to Brittany, Auvergne, Italy, Germany and the South of France. He married Denise Haffner in 1911. After a long honeymoon in Italy, they settled on rue Guynemer. They had two sons, Philippe (1914-1980) and Pierre (1917-2008). When war was declared, he was posted to Taverny until 1915. He was then appointed interpreter officer at the 61st DAC of the British Army in the Somme and Picardy. In early 1918, he was promoted to second lieutenant at the British Army Headquarters. Until his demobilization at the end of 1919, he painted numerous portraits of senior English officers. From 1920, in addition to his activities as a painter, he became a representative of the Cristalleries de Nancy, created by Emile Gallé, for England as well as Haviland & Co from 1922. After a first trip to New York, he was appointed artistic director at Haviland in 1928 to create new collections with a team of artist-decorators: these were Dresa, Laboureur, Barbier, Marty, Paule Marot, Okanouyi, Lenker, Bonfils, Urbain, Haffner and Demailly. Free time was devoted to exhibitions (Salon d'Automne, Beaux-Arts, etc.) and to trips to Alsace, Auvergne, Brittany and the South.