Louise Hervieu (1878-1954), Fly, Circa 1925, Charcoal On Paper

Louise HERVIEU (1878-1954)
Fly, circa 1925
Charcoal on paper
3.5 x 4 cm
frame 19.4 × 14 cm

Born in 1878 in Alençon, Louise Hervieu showed a predisposition for drawing from childhood. She attended evening drawing classes in the city of Paris reserved for young girls before perfecting her training at the Académie Colarossi. From 1910, her fragile health and the weakening of her eyesight forced the artist to give up painting to devote herself exclusively to drawing. Louise Hervieu proved more at ease with the marked contrasts allowed by charcoal and ink on paper. She developed a refined style with wash and charcoal made of light shades obtained by letting the whiteness of the paper stand out. A mysterious light thus envelops the shapes represented with a bold and supple line, giving them a formidable relief in an atmosphere imbued with lyricism. Among her favorite subjects: still lifes and Louis XV style interiors teeming with hangings and objects to which she gives as much importance as to the figures. Thanks to the support of the art critic Félix Fénéon, she produced the illustration for an edition of Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire published in 1920. The same year, her drawings were the subject of an exhibition at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery. The artist, also a writer, also illustrated his own texts. We find flies similar to the one in the drawing we are presenting illustrating the cover of his book Entretiens sur le dessin avec Geneviève published in 1921. Geneviève is none other than Geneviève Bernheim de Villers (1907-1936), the daughter of the art dealer, then aged 14, who devoted herself to painting and drawing. The cover of the 1934 edition is also illustrated with insects that can be compared to our drawing. Louise Hervieu participated, among other things, in the exhibitions organized by the Société des Femmes Artistes Modernes (FAM) created in 1931 by Marie-Anne Camax-Zoegger (1881-1952). The Musée Galliera in Paris dedicated a retrospective exhibition to her alongside Suzanne Valadon and Marie-Anne Camax-Zoegger in 1961.