Jean Léon GEROME (Vesoul 1824-Paris 1904)Portrait of Edmond Membrée in a medallion Canvas mounted on panel. 61 x 61 cm Dedicated and signed lower left A SON AMI MEMBREE / J L GERÔME. Frameless (Accidents and restorations). Provenance : - Collection Alfred TARDIF, founder of Maison Tardif, decorator, 29, rue Bayen, Paris 17th, at the beginning of the 20th century. - Private collection, Paris, by descent The composer Edmond Membrée (Valenciennes 1820-Domont 1882) belonged to the circle of artist friends of Gérôme who met in his studio known as "Châlet". Gerôme is regarded as the leader of a movement in painting that had its moment of glory between 1840 and 1855, the Neo-Grecs. This group of painters advocated anecdotal antiquity as a source of inspiration. Most of them had been pupils of Gleyre or David d'Angers. Gérôme's painting Jeunes Grecs faisant battre des coqs, shown at the Salon of 1847, had enthralled Théophile Gautier. Gérôme, along with painters such as Picou, Hamon and Boulanger, lived and worked in one of the most famous phalansteries of the time, the Châlet, at 27 rue de Fleurus. Other artists, sculptors, writers and musicians, including Théophile Gautier, Théodore de Banville, Henri Murger, Edouard Lalo and Edmond Membrée. Edmond Membrée composed mainly vocal works. He enjoyed great popular success with romances such as L'Ondine et le pêcheur and Page, écuyer, capitaine in the 1840s. He was awarded the Prix Chartier for his Trios de genre in 1873. Some of his operas were performed at the Paris Opéra, notably François Villon in 1857 and L'Esclave in 1874. Our portrait can be compared to a series of works painted in the 1850s, with allegorical subjects (see G. M. Ackerman, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Paris, 2000, no. 41, reproductions). This portrait was engraved. It also served as a model for the sculptor Vendémiaire Pavot for the marble medallion that was placed in 1912 on the house where Membrée was born in Valenciennes, 13 rue Notre Dame (Maison du Provost). The commemorative plaque disappeared during the war. It was found in the reserves of the town's museum and returned to its rightful place in 1991.