• Connaught Brown is delighted to present an exhibition of paintings by Émilie Charmy, a revolutionary artist who broke into the...

    Émilie Charmy in her Saint-Cloud studio, 1906

    Connaught Brown is delighted to present an exhibition of paintings by Émilie Charmy, a revolutionary artist who broke into the male dominated circles of 20th century avant-garde painting in Paris. Her intense colour palette, vivid brushwork, and controversial subject matter transcended what was believed to be ‘feminine art’.

  • Born Émilie Espérance Barret on 2 April 1878 in Saint-Étienne, she adopted the surname Charmy upon moving to Lyon in 1989 where she studied painting under Jacques Martin.

     

    In 1903 she moved to Paris, the then epicentre of modernist painting. Charmy began to experiment with fauvism and what would be her most daring subject matter – the female nude. She joined the circle of Matisse, Marquet and Camoin, with the latter becoming her lover.

     

    Within a year she was exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants and came to be at the forefront of Parisian modernism. In the seminal 1905 Salon d’Automne, in which fauvism coined its name, her work caught the eye of Berthe Weill, a champion of female artists, and whose gallery was the first to sell Picasso’s work in Paris. As her reputation grew Charmy exhibited internationally, including at The Armory Show of 1913 alongside Manguin, Rouault, Matisse and Camoin.

     

    After World War II Charmy never regained the recognition she enjoyed prior to the War. She died in 1974 at the age of 96. However, in 2008, Musée de Villefranche-sur-Saône held a retrospective of her work and an exhibition at the Fralin Museum of Art followed in 2014. Charmy’s works can now be found in Musée de Grenoble, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the Art Institute of Chicago.

     

  • Charmy’s artistic career truly began upon moving to Lyon. It was there that she had her first foray into developing...

    Emilie CharmyLa Loge , 1900

    Charmy’s artistic career truly began upon moving to Lyon. It was there that she had her first foray into developing her passion into a profession and pushed against the norms of what was traditionally expected from a woman.

     

    Charmy’s early works, such as La Loge (c.1900), reveal her artistic ambition and refusal to be confined to a ‘feminine’ subject matter. The painting depicts multiple nudes within an interior, a subject that was only considered acceptable for male artists at the time. Charmy paints her nudes without detail, alluding to their nakedness, and the brothel, disturbing the boundaries of what was suitable for a woman to paint whilst not yet being as frank as in her later nudes.

  • In contrast, the still life was considered proper subject matter for women. Created in 1902, the year before her move...

    Charmy, Fleurs et Fruits, oil on canvas, c. 1904

    In contrast, the still life was considered proper subject matter for women. Created in 1902, the year before her move to Paris, Bouquet de Fleurs  reveals Charmy’s early approach to flower painting. It follows the tradition of her Impressionist predecessors by highlighting the two dimensionality of a painting through its surface and use of a traditional colour palette. 

     

    Charmy’s 1903 move to Paris was a crucial moment for her practice. Surrounded by the pioneers of Modernism she experimented with the latest artistic developments. In her 1904 Fleurs et Fruits  vibrant colour dominates. The decorative pattern on the vase and wallpaper echo that of Japanese woodblock prints which were highly influential on many artists in Paris at this time. By building upon these progressive influences Charmy challenges the notion of floral painting being a ‘safe’ and feminine domain, repurposing the subject matter with avant-garde style and handling.

     

    The year after painting Fleurs et Fruits Charmy exhibited two still lifes at the seminal 1905 Salon d’Automne. Fauvism coined its name from Louis Vauxcelles’ description of the group, which included Matisse, Vlaminck and Derain, as ‘les fauves’ or ‘wild beasts’ upon seeing their daring use of colour in the Salon. It was also Vauxcelles who in 1921 described Charmy as “one of the most remarkable women [artists] of our time”. Viewed as the epitome of the ‘New Woman’ Charmy broke into the male dominated circle of fauvism, exhibiting side by side with her male counterparts such as Matisse, Camoin and Vlaminck.

    • Emilie Charmy, Nu au escarpins verts, c. 1930
      Emilie Charmy, Nu au escarpins verts, c. 1930
    • Emilie Charmy, Grand nu debout, 1918-20
      Emilie Charmy, Grand nu debout, 1918-20
    • Emilie Charmy, Femme allongée, c. 1920
      Emilie Charmy, Femme allongée, c. 1920
    • Emilie Charmy, Autoportrait, 1910-1912
      Emilie Charmy, Autoportrait, 1910-1912
    • Emilie Charmy, Portrait, 1921
      Emilie Charmy, Portrait, 1921
    • Emilie Charmy, Autoportrait , 1945-55
      Emilie Charmy, Autoportrait , 1945-55
  • It was during these early Parisian years that Charmy began a relationship with Charles Camoin. Supporting each other’s artistic endeavours,...

    Charles Camoin, Artist in Her Studio, 1905, Oil on canvas, 73.03 × 60.33 cm © Dallas Museum of Art

    It was during these early Parisian years that Charmy began a relationship with Charles Camoin. Supporting each other’s artistic endeavours, in 1905 Camoin painted Artist in Her Studio (1905, Dallas Museum of Art). Depicting Charmy at work, Camoin places Charmy’s artistry not gender at the forefront, asserting her position as a Fauve artist.

     

    By 1910 Charmy had been included in several solo and group exhibitions in Paris and had joined Berthe Weill’s stable of artists.  Charmy’s relationship with Weill was of great importance. Weill placed her paintings alongside other leading painters of the day. Weill also supported other female artists such as Marie Laurencin and Suzanne Valadon, but Charmy stood in a unique position as the only female Fauve. 

     

    Becoming bolder in her style, Charmy’s landscapes of the early 1910s maintain their strong fauvist manner. In 1913, her relationship with Camoin had come to an end and she began a relationship with another artist, George Bouche, who owned a home in the village of Marnat. She painted numerous landscapes of this idyllic setting - such as La barriere à Marnat and Marnat. The place became somewhat of a retreat for her and her artistic circle. Charmy’s paintings of Marnat are quite intimate, revealing her personal view of the landscape. Simplified forms and luscious greens and blue dictate these paintings which celebrate nature.

  • Marnat, 1913-15

    • Emilie Charmy, Marnat, 1913-15
      Emilie Charmy, Marnat, 1913-15
    • Emilie Charmy, La barriere à Marnat, c. 1915
      Emilie Charmy, La barriere à Marnat, c. 1915
    • Emilie Charmy, Le chemin vers la maison, c. 1913-15
      Emilie Charmy, Le chemin vers la maison, c. 1913-15
    • Emilie Charmy, Les toits rouges, c. 1912-16
      Emilie Charmy, Les toits rouges, c. 1912-16
    • Emilie Charmy, Jardin à Ablon, c. 1921-24
      Emilie Charmy, Jardin à Ablon, c. 1921-24
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                                           Émilie Charmy in her studio, Saint-Cloud c.1906                                                                                                   Émilie Charmy with her brother, Jean, in 1906

    • Emilie Charmy, Fleurs et Fruits, c. 1904
      Emilie Charmy, Fleurs et Fruits, c. 1904
    • Emilie Charmy, Fleurs Corsica, 1906-10
      Emilie Charmy, Fleurs Corsica, 1906-10
    • Emilie Charmy, Bouquet de Fleurs, 1902-04
      Emilie Charmy, Bouquet de Fleurs, 1902-04
    • Emilie Charmy, Roses, c. 1912-14
      Emilie Charmy, Roses, c. 1912-14
    • Emilie Charmy, Jeune fille à l'éventail, c. 1898-1900
      Emilie Charmy, Jeune fille à l'éventail, c. 1898-1900
    • Emilie Charmy, Serviteur avec des poires, 1950
      Emilie Charmy, Serviteur avec des poires, 1950
  • While in her earlier work she began to experiment with painting the nude, she pushed further against convention in the...

    Charmy, Grand nu debout, oil on canvas, 1918-20

    While in her earlier work she began to experiment with painting the nude, she pushed further against convention in the 1920s with Grand nu debout  and Femme allongée.

    Now a mature artist, Charmy does not shy away from depicting the female form in detail, with her models being very much contemporary women. Unapologetic in their large scale Charmy calls to question why it was unacceptable for a woman to paint the female form. In 1900s Paris, the nude always came to an issue of gender, as was clear in the 1922 show Le Nu Féminin d’Ingres à nos jours at Galerie Styles. Charmy was chosen as the sole female painter alongside Renoir, Degas, Delacroix, Manet, Ingres, Rodin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Picasso, Bonnard, Vuillard, Maillol and Courbet.

     

    It was at this time that Charmy first formed a friendship with the esteemed author and artist Colette. Gossip circulated around their relationship, with the two rumoured to be lovers. In 1921 Colette wrote the catalogue entry for Charmy’s exhibition at Galerie d’Art Ancien et Moderne in Paris.

     

    With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, attention on Charmy’s work began to fade but she did not stop painting. Her works from this late period, such as Serviteur avec des poires of 1950, have a looser brushwork. She shifted away from bold colour to a more nuanced use of tone.

     

    Charmy stands as a wholly unique artist who both broke into the male dominated circle of fauvism and became an artist lauded in her own right. Having been overlooked in more recent years it is time to re-evaluate this trailblazing artist.

     

    • Emilie Charmy, Les pivoines
      Emilie Charmy, Les pivoines
    • Emilie Charmy, La Loge , 1900
      Emilie Charmy, La Loge , 1900
    • Emilie Charmy, Nature morte avec cerises, 1920
      Emilie Charmy, Nature morte avec cerises, 1920
    • Emilie Charmy, Fleurs, 1898
      Emilie Charmy, Fleurs, 1898
    • Emilie Charmy, Danseuse, c. 1928-30
      Emilie Charmy, Danseuse, c. 1928-30
    • Emilie Charmy, Pot de fleurs, 1925
      Emilie Charmy, Pot de fleurs, 1925
    • Emilie Charmy, Nature morte avec cerises, c. 1920
      Emilie Charmy, Nature morte avec cerises, c. 1920
    • Emilie Charmy, Autoportrait, 1950-55
      Emilie Charmy, Autoportrait, 1950-55
  • * All prices are subject to an additional 5% import duty charge if they are to remain within the UK.