A reviewer at the 1881 Paris Salon wrote the following about
Jules-Joseph Lefèbvre: “It is sufficient to just mention his
name in order to immediately evoke the memory and the image of
the thousand adorable creatures of which he is the father....
Jules Lefèbvre, better than anyone else caresses, with a brush
both delicate and sure, the undulating contour of the feminine
form.” Like a typical academic artist, Lefèbvre started his
career with the traditional subject matter of histories and
other narratives. It would not be till later in his career that
he would focus exclusively on the human figure in portraiture
and especially the female nude, with great ability and success.
Lefèbvre was born on March 14th, 1836. Though his father was
only a baker, he nonetheless encouraged his son to pursue
painting, sending him to study in Paris in 1852. There, Lefèbvre
became a pupil of Léon Cogniet and a year later started
attending the École des Beaux Arts . His debut at the Paris
Salon was in 1855. He then spent the next