Joseph Soumy

A painter and printmaker known as Joseph Soumy, or Joseph-Paul-Marius Soumy, he trained successively in Lyon and Paris, with printmaking occupying a central place in his career. Born in 1831 and dead in 1863, he attended the École des beaux-arts de Lyon from 1846, studying under the painters Jean-Baptiste Louis Guy and Claude Bonnefond, as well as the printmaker Victor Vibert. The distinctions he received during these years mark the stages of his training: a gold medal in the engraving competition at the Lyon school in 1847; the prize of the Société des amis des arts de Lyon in 1849 for the Portrait of Philippe de la Salle; and, in 1854, the Prix de Rome for printmaking for Male Nude Study, executed with the burin. In May 1852, Soumy entered the École des beaux-arts de Paris, where he continued his training as a printmaker under Louis-Pierre Henriquel-Dupont.

After winning the Prix de Rome, he left for the Villa Medici in January 1855. During his stay, he made drawings after Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel and after Giorgione at the Palazzo Doria-Spinola, while also engraving the Portrait of François I after Titian with the burin. On his return to Paris, he devoted himself to printmaking and joined the Société des aquafortistes in 1862, the year it was founded. His participation in the Paris Salon is recorded in 1859 and 1861. According to Gérald Schurr, he exhibited Italian landscapes with expansive compositions and portraits whose lines, both vigorous and supple, convey a sombre tone; the portrait of Carpeaux is among the works mentioned. The 1861 Salon is also associated with the Portrait of Cesare Borgia after Raphael.

Public collections hold works in several media. The Musée Crozatier in Le Puy-en-Velay owns, among other works, the Portrait of Madame Michel, a painting depicting the artist’s mother-in-law, and the drawing Male Head; the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon holds the painting Disdain and the drawing The Creation of Man, after Michelangelo. In Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney holds the print of the Portrait of François I after Titian, while the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra holds the etching Roman Beggar. His work has also been included in exhibitions devoted to artistic training and the reception of Michelangelo: Savoir-faire. La formation des artistes à l’époque de Paul Baudry, at the Musée municipal de La Roche-sur-Yon from October 2007 to January 2008, followed by Michel-Ange au siècle de Carpeaux, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes from March to July 2012. A biographical and artistic study of Joseph Soumy, printmaker and painter, was published by Philippe Auquier and Jean-Baptiste Astier in 1910.

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Schuler · Lot 7155

Attribué à Soumy, Joseph Paul Marius — zugeschrieben Galantes Paar

Oil on canvas

Original catalogue wording

Attribué à Soumy, Joseph Paul Marius — zugeschrieben Galantes Paar
Öl auf Leinwand
zugeschrieben

Catalogue period : 2022-03-21

Attributed

Published result : 600 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 600–900

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