Émile Friant (16 April 1863 – 9 June 1932) was a French artist.
Friant was born in the commune of Dieuze. He exhibited paintings throughout his lifetime at the Paris Salon.
Friant created works in charcoal, oil, and other media. He also used photographs to prepare finished paintings.
Early life
Friant was born in the commune of Dieuze in 1863. His father was a locksmith and mother a dressmaker. Madame Parisot, the wife of a local chemist, often hired Friant's mother to design custom clothing. The Parisots took an early interest in the young Friant and treated him maternally, as they were without children of their own.
In 1870, with the defeat of the Second French Empire at hand as part of the then-ongoing Franco-Prussian War, annexation of Alsatia occurred and Dieuze was no longer under French state control. Meanwhile, friends of his biological father had suggested sending him to a municipal school of art because of his skill with the brush. Because of his poor performance at the lycée, Friant requested permission to leave and focus on his art. His father agreed, and the young Friant was placed under the guide of a private tutor who would arrange his academic work so that time remained for painting. Under the guidance of Louis-Théodore Devilly, director of a school in Nancy and a proponent of realism, Friant learned the art of still life and landscape painting. The following year, Friant again presented at the Salon and took second place in the Prix de Rome concours. In 1884 he received a third class medal at the Salon with his painting Un coin d'atelier and in 1885 a second-class medal. He received a gold medal for the same painting at the Universal Exposition of 1889, as well as the Legion of Honour. The painting was acquired by the State and added to the collection of the Luxembourg
Later life
thumb|Chagrin d'Enfant, 1898, [[Frick Art & Historical Center]]
Friant was appointed a professor of painting in 1923 at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, promoted to the position of commander in the Legion of Honour, and made a member of the Institut de France. In 1930 the art critic Arsène Alexandre published a comprehensive review of the art of Friant. In 1932, Friant fell to his death in Paris. He was buried at the Préville Cemetery in Nancy.
thumb|Lady and the Lion, 1919
Paintings
- Le travail du lundi, 1884. Oil on wood panel. Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, France.
- Auto-portrait, 1885. Oil on panel. Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, France.
- Jeune Nancéienne dans une paysage de neige (Young lady from Nancy in snow landscape), 1887. Oil on canvas, 46 x 37 cm. Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, France.
- Canotiers de la Meurthe (The Meurthe boating party), 1887. Musée de l'École de Nancy, France.
- La Toussaint (All Saints' Day), 1888. Oil on canvas, 254 x 334 cm. Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, France.
- La discussion politique (political discussion), 1889. Oil on canvas.
- La Lutte (The fight), 1889. Oil on canvas. Musée Fabre, France.
- The Frugal Repast, 1894.
- Par lui-même (self-portrait). 1895. Oil on wood panel. Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, France.
- La douleur (The sorrow), 1898. Oil on canvas. Musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, France.
- Femme avec un lion (Lady with lion).
- Portrait de M. Émile Hinzelin, 1908. Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Strasbourg, France.
- L'echo de la Forêt, Petit Palais, Paris, France. Exposed at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts, 1911.
- Guillaume Dubufe (1835-1909) à son chevalet, no date. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
- L'oiseau blessé, date unknown. Exhibited at the Salon de Paris.
- Les Amoureux, Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts
- Marie Marvingt and her proposed air ambulance, 1914. Drawing on paper.
- Portrait de Jean Scherbeck, 1929. Drawing on paper.
References
thumb|Drawing of painter [[Aimé Morot, 1905]]