SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The world of the working class, Jules Adler’s favoured subject, earns him the nickname “painter of the humble”. His training in Paris takes him from the École des arts décoratifs, where he studies under William Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury, to courses at the Académie Julian, which he attends from 1883. Admitted to the École des beaux-arts in 1884, he joins Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret’s class. He makes his debut at the Salon in 1888 with Misère. Joies populaires earns him a gold medal; dated 1898, the work is now held at the musée des Ursulines de Mâcon. La Grève-Le Creusot is exhibited at the Salon in 1900, while La Grève au Creusot, dated 1899, is held at the écomusée du Creusot, in the château de la Verrerie. Works held at the Petit Palais include La Soupe des pauvres (1906) and Gros temps au large, matelotes d’Étaples (1913). Retour de la pêche à Boulogne (1914) is held at the musée national des Beaux-Arts de Buenos Aires.
His career combines artistic practice, teaching and commitment to artists. A founding member of the Salon d’automne in 1903, Adler is assigned an artistic mission in Verdun in 1914, from where he brings back drawings, sketches and photographs. From 1914 to 1918, he organises a canteen on place Pigalle to assist artists, serving several thousand meals and distributing clothing. In the 1920s, he teaches at the école des Arts de la fleur et de la plante; in 1928, he is appointed professor at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. A museum bearing his name opens in Luxeuil-les-Bains in 1933; since 1965, it has occupied the third and fourth floors of the musée de la Tour des Échevins. A museum space devoted to the artist and his works also opens in the municipal library in 2022. The exhibition “Jules Adler. Peindre sous la Troisième République”, shown in Dole in 2017–2018, is subsequently presented in Roubaix, Évian and Paris, where it is on view from October 2019 to February 2020. A collective volume devoted to Adler is published by Silvana in 2017.
This profile brings together identity references for Jules Adler and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
3 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Oil on canvas
Belebte Strassenpartie.
Öl auf Lwd.
Date to be documented
Published result : 1900 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 3000
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Oil on canvas
Le vendeur de journaux.
Öl auf Leinwand
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Watercolour
Jules Adler (1856-1952), \\Paysage animé à Saint
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2011-06-22
Published result : 100 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 200–300
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
