Adrien Henri Tanoux (1865-1923) - Odalisque, Circa 1900

Adrien Henri Tanoux (1865-1923)
Odalisque, Circa 1900
Oil on panel
41 x 27 cm
59 x 45 cm with its frame
Signed lower left

Painter of genre scenes, nudes and portraits, but also Orientalist scenes, Adrien Tanoux was born on October 10, 1865 in Marseilles. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he was a pupil of Léon Bonnat. He regularly exhibited his works at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris, of which he became a member in 1905, and received numerous awards: an honorable mention at the Universal Exhibition of 1889, a third class medal and a second class medal respectively at the Salons of 1894 and 1895, the year in which he also obtained a travel grant. Back in Paris, he presented new paintings at the Paris Salon: "The sewing lesson" and "The letter" in 1908, intimate interior scenes in the countryside, then, in the years that followed, paintings with titles evocative which announce the new character of his work and a turning point in the choice of his subjects: "Après lebain" 1912, "Fleur du Mal" 1913 or "Troubling Perfumes" in 1914. Noted for his paintings of nudes, women with sensual and voluptuous beauty, he practices a tender and mannerist figurative style. He often places his models in an atmosphere of well-tuned tones where he skilfully plays with light and shadow. He decorated the wedding hall of the Town Hall of the 14th arrondissement in Paris with a scene entitled "La Noce" (1888), and the party hall of the Town Hall of the 10th arrondissement with "Théâtres" in 1905. He died in Paris in 1923. In 1927 his sister will donate a very large canvas to the Museum of Fine Arts in Nice, "Thaïs", (215 x 235cm), dating from 1920 and inspired by the eponymous novel by Anatole France.