Luxembourg Gardens By Raymond Koenig

Very nice oil on panel by Jules Raymond Koenig, signed lower right. The colors are fresh and cheerful. In a beautiful frame. Dimensions: 34/41 cm panel only With frame: 49/56 cm Packing and shipping: 20 Euros for France 30 Euros for Europe Born in 1872 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Jules lost his father at the age 3 years old and was raised by his mother, Noémi, with the help of his uncles and aunts, among his 42 cousins. He and his mother moved to 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 entered the Atelier of Jean-Paul Laurens. Portrait of Denise Haffner, a 6-year-old girl whom he will marry 17 years later. It is also the beginning of the Dreyfus Affair; Jules was very involved in his 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 National Society of Fine Arts. He exhibited there every year until 1913. There followed 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. He married Denise Haffner in 1911. After a long honeymoon in Italy, they settled in rue Guynemer. They will have two sons, Philippe (1914-1980) and Pierre (1917-2008). When war was declared, he was assigned to Taverny until 1915. He was then appointed officer-interpreter in the 61st DAC of the British army in the Somme and in Picardy. In early 1918, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant at British Army Headquarters. Until his demobilization at the end of 1919, he produced many portraits of senior English officers. From 1920, in addition to his activities as a painter, he became representative of the Cristalleries de Nancy, created by Emile Gallé, for England as well as of 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: Dresa, Laboureur, Barbier, Marty, Paule Marot, Okanouyi, Lenker, Bonfils, Urbain, Haffner and Demailly. Free time is devoted to exhibitions (Salon d'Automne, Beaux-Arts, etc.) and trips to Alsace, Auvergne, Brittany and the South. Haviland's bankruptcy in 1931 forced him to look for another job.