Albert-Jules EDOUARD (Caen, 1845 - Paris, 1919) The Night Oil on canvas (Original canvas) Signed 'ALBERT. EDOUARD.' lower left No frame The night, oil on canvas, signed, by A.-J. Edouard 32.28 x 21.65 in. 82.0 x 55.0 cm Provenance: Gérard Lévy Collection ; Then by descent Exhibitions: Salon des Artistes français, Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées, April - May 1896, cat. no. 759: "La Nuit" ("The Night") Probably Salon des Artistes français, Paris, place de Breteuil, 1900, cat. no. 481: "La Nuit étend son voile" ("Night extends its veil") Probably Union artistique de Toulouse, Toulouse, Galeries du capitole, 1904, cat. no. 169: "La Nuit étend son voile" ("Night extends its veil") Probably Salon des Artistes français, Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées, April - May 1908, cat. no. 621: "La Nuit". L'Art et la Vie en France à la Belle Époque, Île de Bendor, Fondation Paul Ricard, September - October 1971, cat. no. 201: "La Nuit" [label on reverse]. Triumph der Schöneit / Die Epoche der Salonmarelei von Makart bis Rossetti, Krems (Austria), Kunsthalle, 5 March - 30 July 2006, reproduced p. 47 : "Die Nacht". Bibliography: Baschet, Ludovic, Catalogue illustré du Salon de la Société des Artistes Français de 1896, Peinture Et Sculpture, Paris, Ludovic Baschet, 1896, cat. no. 759 reproduced p. 115 Celebonovic, Aleksa, Peinture kitsch ou réalisme bourgeois, l'art pompier dans le monde, Paris, Seghers, 1974, reproduced p. 88: "La Nuit". Jullian, Philippe, Le Nu 1900, Paris, André Barret éditeur, 1976, reproduced p. 33 Albert-Jules Édouard initially trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Caen, before studying in Paris with Jean-Léon Gérôme, Léon Cogniet and then Jules-Élie Delaunay. Aiming for a career as a history painter, he exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes français from 1882, winning a medal that same year, and again in 1885 and at the Universal Exhibition of 1889. In 1896, he exhibited our painting of the Allegory of the Night (cat. no. 759), accompanied in the Salon booklet by Victor Hugo's eloquent verses from La Légende des siècles: "The night draws from the depths of unknown abysses Its net where Mars shines, where Venus shines. And as the hours strike, This net grows, rises, fills the evening sky And in its shadowy meshes and black networks The constellations shiver<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong><i>[1]</i></strong></a>". <a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Victor Hugo, "Plein Ciel", in La Légende des siècles, Paris, Hetzel, 1859, p. 225. Albert-Jules EDOUARD (Caen, 1845 - Paris, 1919) 82.0 x 55.0 cm Albert-Jules Édouard first trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Caen, before studying in Paris with Jean-Léon Gérôme, Léon Cogniet and then Jules-Élie Delaunay. Aiming for a career as a history painter, he exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes français from 1882, winning a medal that same year, and again in 1885 and at the Universal Exhibition of 1889. In 1896, he exhibited our painting of the Allegory of the Night (cat. no. 759), accompanied in the Salon booklet by Victor Hugo's eloquent verses from La Légende des siècles: "Night draws from the depths of unknown abysses Its net where Mars shines, where Venus shines. And as the hours strike, This net grows, rises, fills the evening sky And in its shadowy meshes and black networks The constellations shiver<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong><em>[1]</em></strong></a>". <a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Victor Hugo, "Plein Ciel", in La Légende des siècles, Paris, Hetzel, 1859, p. 225.