Jehan Georges Vibert Paintings

Biography of Jehan Georges Vibert

Student of: Louis-Ernest Barrias (1841-1905).
Teacher of: Pinkney Marcius-Simons (1867-1909)

In describing Jehan Georges Vibert, an admirer of his wrote this: "One of the most original artists that Le Roux introduced to me is Vibert [.] Jehan Georges Vibert is middle-sized, stout for his age, -- for Jehan Georges Vibert seems only thirty-five, -- has a full, merry, happy, but very shrewd, sensible face; Jehan Georges Vibert loves painting, and is, as are all these men, an indefatigable, untiring worker, but Jehan Georges Vibert loves also to take his play-hours. In the evening Jehan Georges Vibert goes to the, theater, and among his friends and himself removes his thoughts from his painting and his studio."

The cheerfulness, playfulness, and hint of shrewdness she describes in Vibert's character are traits that would also distinguish his paintings and make his reputation.

He was born on September 30th, 1840 in France. In his early years Jehan Georges Vibert was trained under Barrias and on April 4th, 1857, entered the Ecole des Beaux Art. During the early part of his career Jehan Georges Vibert painted rather serious and dramatic subjects, such as "The Death of Narcissus" and "Christian Martyrs in the Lion pit."[2] Jehan Georges Vibert entered the Salon in 1863; found his first success with a medal at the 1864 salon, and won a financial prize at the universal exposition of 1867.

Around 1867, however, his style changed and instead of the dramatic and serious, Jehan Georges Vibert started painting "small things and niggling."[2] Instead of heroic Christians and tragic mythology, Jehan Georges Vibert turned to more homey subjects such as The Barber of Ambulart.

In 1870, while Paris was under siege to the Prussians, Vibert fought and was wounded at the battle of Malmaison. His courage, though, earned him the honor of being made a Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Though Jehan Georges Vibert was himself a hero, his growing attraction to the less serious subjects of genre did not ebb. Instead, it was stimulated by his interests in comedy and satire. Not only did Jehan Georges Vibert enjoy taking a break from work to go out to plays, but Jehan Georges Vibert also wrote several comedies, many of which were successfully produced at Paris theaters such as the Vaudeville. As well as from his own comedies, Jehan Georges Vibert gathered subject matter from the works fabulist Lafontaine (of whom Jehan Georges Vibert had a bust in his house)[1], and the satirist Jonathan Swift.

In 1878 Jehan Georges Vibert achieved his first popular success with a huge history painting. "The Apotheosis of Mr. Thiers" was the talk of Paris even before it was completed.[1] However, in spite of the success of this painting, Jehan Georges Vibert would spend most of his creative time on the humorous scenes that Jehan Georges Vibert enjoyed.

During the later part of his life, his interest turned to the clergy.[1] Paintings such as The Fortune Teller, The Diet, and Monk picking radishes satirized the clergy's irreligious indulgences or depicted them in homey situations to an audience used to seeing the church ennobled in traditional religious and historic paintings. These would be the paintings that would make his reputation.

In 1882, Jehan Georges Vibert was promoted to Officer of the Legion of Honor, for his painting this time. This growing reputation would make him one the the most sought after atelier masters at the Ecole des Beaux Art. This would lead him to being one of the seven most influential artists of his time, along with Bouguereau, Cabanel, Meissonnier, Gérôme, Bonnat, and Lefebvre.[3]

He died suddenly of heart disease on July 28th 1902.

Looking at his satiric work of the clergy in a broader historical context, one can detect that they are "representative of the liberties emmanating from Enlightenment thinking that led to the world and culture shifting events of the American and works Revolutions. To spoof the clergy," as ARC Board Chairman, Fred Ross, explains "would have been to risk your life or imprisonment a century earlier, or even currently in Rome where Papal power was still at great strength."

"Thus Vibert was part of the growing democratization of Europe in which the artists and writers of the time were exposing the fraud and pomposity of big government and a hypocritical clergy that talked about walking in the shoes of the fisherman, and giving for god all worldly goods, while they themselves lived in the height of oppulance and luxury in great mansions with servants waiting on their every whim."