More about Léon Maxime Faivre
Works by Léon Maxime Faivre
Contributor
Leon-Maxime Faivre was a Parisian man through and through, but his paintings show a scope far beyond his hometown.
Like many Parisian artists, he joined a ‘societe,’ which were basically frats for male painters back in the day. Under the guidance and tutelage of Jean-Léon Gérôme, he pledged the Société des Artistes Français who soon began presenting his work in their annual Salons.
Faivre explored a wide range of painting genres: allegorical, portraits, historical scenes, landscapes, and still life. His most famous paintings, such as Death of Princess Lamballe, and Two Mothers, depict humanity in its most vulnerable state and pique the viewer’s interest by alluding to a larger story. His paintings also express a keen interest in history and anthropology. He even made a series of paintings re-imagining the life of early man, depicting the strife most likely faced by cavemen. His most well-known paintings from this series display scenes that emphasize the hardships faced by early man, such as a primitive woman frantically pulling her children away from some obscured danger, a family hiding while hunting a bear, and two men locked in a fight to the death in front of a concerned woman and child.
Beyond the remarkable work he left behind, not much else is known about Faivre’s life as it remained mostly undocumented.
Sources
Sources
- http://www.mheu.org/en/timeline/death-princess-lamballe.htm
- Benezit Dictionary of Artists ISBN: 9780199773787
Featured Content
Here is what Wikipedia says about Maxime Faivre
Léon Eugène Maxime Faivre (5 January 1856 in Paris - 5 January 1941 in Paris) was a French painter .
Biography
A student of Jean-Léon Gérôme, he exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français between 1877 and 1912, and continued to exhibit thereafter until 1932. A history painter, he often chose heroic, anectodatal and patriotic subjects. He was also quickly won over by the "prehistoric" trend that swept through the art world in the 1880s, alongside Fernand Cormon, Paul Jamin, and Emmanuel Benner. He illustrated the life of early humans several times, such as at the Salon of 1884 where he exhibited The Invader (l'Envahisseur) or at the Salon of 1888 where he presented Two Mothers (Deux mères).
Faivre also dealt with ancient history (Final Victory!, presented at the Salon of 1880), medieval history (The Death of William the Conqueror exhibited at the Salon of 1881), and modern history (The Death of the Princess de Lamballe a sensation at the Salon of 1908). He also produced a large number of portraits.
He died in Paris on 5 January 1941, on his 85th birthday.
Check out the full Wikipedia article about Maxime Faivre
